Point Taken
by pencilitout
Summary: I can hear thoughts if I touch someone. But I'd never hated my 'gift' more than when I touched Edward Cullen for the first time. Figures, the most beautiful boy in the world wants to kill me. Why? I have yet to find out. Run little girl, run.
1. Life Sucks

Disclaimer: All rights go to the amazing Stephenie Meyer. I own nothing.

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Life sucks.

Like, no really, it _sucks._

You know all those t-shirts that they sell at places like Hot Topic? The ones that say things like "I Hate My Life" or "Just Kill Me Now Cuz I Don't Really Give a F### Anymore"? Yeah, those angsty bitches got nothing on me.

I'm the fucking _queen_ of that shit.

See, I'm a relatively happy person. Or at least I'd like to think that I would be a relatively happy person. You know, if things weren't the way they were (or are.) Maybe if I wasn't the way I am, then things would be, well, better?

Okay, confusing I know, but that's not even half of it.

I have a curse.

Alright, maybe some would call it a gift, or superpower or whatever. Thing is, those people don't know what the fuck they're talking about. They are all completely normal (unlike me) and so are extremely lucky (unlike me.) All I have ever wanted is to fit in, but knowing me, I fit into the crowd by not fitting in at all. Because there's always _someone_ who doesn't fit in. That's what makes it the crowd. There wouldn't be an _in_ if there was no _out._ Got it?

Oh and lucky me! I got to balance out the fucking social system by being the freak! Or weirdo, social pariah, stranger, etc: just plain strange, yet plain at the same time. What poor person could fit into that unlucky paradox of epically suckish proportions? Why me, Bella Swan, of course!

Yeah, fuck you universe. You're not as funny as you would like to think.

So my gift or lack thereof, is what I would like to blame for my life of misery.

See, I really do have an unnatural gift. It's not something I make up to get attention or anything, it's real. Like real_ real._ The thing is, I can "read minds" when I make physical contact with people.

Now isn't that just awesome?! Yeah, uh-huh, I don't think so.

Whenever I see people's thoughts it's um, well not always pleasant. At least not for me. You know that feeling you get when you're on a rollercoaster? Or that feeling you get when you hear nails scratching on a chalkboard? How about that rush of adrenaline right before you fall on your face?

Yeah I know those feelings too.

Every thought in the mind is dominated by some kind of emotion: love, frustration, hate, boredom, fear, excitement, jealousy, etc. And each and every one of those thoughts has a sensation behind it. When I accidentally brush a hand and the person to whom that hand belongs to is feeling jealousy, I feel like I'm crunching on sour socks. If they are hating or angry or feel a type of fury, I taste metal, and can almost feel a gun barrel stuffed down my pie-hole. Sadness? Yeah there's a shadow on the world and everything tints blue; kind of like drowning. Fun. Happiness? Especially when the person is shitting rainbows? Yeah it's like getting high.

Too bad nobody around here is ever happy.

The list goes on and on. My favorite is the whole attraction/lust thing. It's like an electric shock. And if it's really strong, I feel like I have this little fire burning inside me, all cozy and warm and_ hot._ God I love heat.

But that's not all of it. I can hear what they are thinking, as of that moment. Now if you're a teenager, you can imagine just what these jack offs are thinking about.

_Holy shit, that chick has one niiiice rack. I'd like to hit that._

_Oh my holy mother fucking shit! I can't believe he looked at me! He like totally totally looked at me!_

_Wow that teacher is like, so manly. I wonder if I do him a little-um-favor-_

_God I can't believe he thinks we should tell my parents- I don't exactly want to tell them their son is dating another guy._

This is a slightly disturbing overview of what I hear on a daily basis. Basically, I try to avoid touching people, but that's kind of hard in a school of 10,000 when trying to get to my locker in the 4-feet-across hallway.

Just fantastic.

So yeah, there it is. Now you may be thinking "Poor Bella, this super cool person with this stupid disability; it's just wrong." Although most of you are probably thinking something along the lines of "So what you big baby? Get the fuck over it."

Yeah just don't let me touch your hand, cuz then I'd know you were thinking that. And then I'd have to punch your face in.

But really, this is a lot worse than you would ever know. Like in that one song.. what's it called again? Oh yeah, 'Dashboard.'

Okay so there is this really great song, the afore mentioned 'Dashboard', that really gets the gist of my feelings.

_Could've been should've been worse than you would ever know._

Taha. Gotta love anything by a band called Modest Mouse.

Back to the point, it is worse than you, a normal person, would ever know. Imagine feeling like a gun is being stuffed down your throat, sensation of hatred, while at the same time knowing that someone is feeling like that about you.

It sucks when people hate me.

People in general do not like me for some reason. I guess their instincts are telling them that I'm just weird, not normal, and. And people _really_ do not like other people who are different. I mean, all those grade school teachers who tell you to just be you, to have some individuality and not follow the crowd? THEY LIE. If you are individual, that just means you are alone and isolated. On a stupid little island called Society Hates Me. And then you get to hang out with the other SHM club members, right?

Nope. Society won't let that happen. Because if you make friends with the other friendless, then _nobody_ is friendless. And that is just not acceptable. So if you want to survive, making friends with the other losers is a big no-no. Your only chance is to build a raft of conformity, drown your abnormality in the ocean, and get ready to blend in. Fun, I know.

Now if you are on the SHM Island, like me, get off. Save yourself, do a bunker; look out for numero uno until you get to the mainland. That's the best advice I can give you. Because, unlike me, you are probably completely normal with a few social inadequacies.

But if, like me, you have some superpower that makes it absolutely impossible to follow the flock, you have two options: accept it and try and move on, or just give up and drown yourself in the bathtub with your rubber ducky.

I value life so I choose acceptance.

Taha, I crack myself up sometimes.

See, the thing is, I'm a chickenshit. I would love to not exist, but I am too scared to take that risk. Really, I've thought about suicide many times before. I mean, Renee probably wouldn't mind. She may be my biological mother, but that is where her maternal side ends. But I'm not even going to get into that shit with you right now. Renee is a whole other world of fucked uppedness.

It makes me sad to even think that school and the world in general has brought me to the point of not really caring whether or not I live. I mean, even when I was a little kid, I didn't have any friends. Nobody liked me, or approached me. They acted like I didn't exist and still do. Although there is a mean comment thrown in here and there.

Loser. Freak. Abomination. You don't _belong_ here. Leave us alone.

Each and every word is like a knife to the heart. I used to cry alone at night when I was a little kid. But nobody heard me, and if they did, they didn't care.

So I built my armor. I avoided people and their nasty thoughts. And when I did touch someone, I'd flinch away at the dislike I knew they felt for me.

The disgust they held in their eyes and thoughts.

It kills me to know that I wouldn't mind being killed. It hurts to know that nobody else can see that I'm a person with feelings and thoughts and opinions and-

A soul.

So when Renee called me down (first time she'd talked to me in a week) to the living room, I slouched as I walked. I avoided eye contact, skin contact, so I could avoid her disgusted thoughts.

_She is not my daughter._

"Isabella! Look at least a little less pathetic!" Of course mother, but you know that's not possible.

She glared, she sighed, and then she sat down and glared again.

"I don't know what to do with you, Isabella. I really don't know." The tone of her voice made me look up.

She looked almost apologetic.

Oh _shit._

Maybe she's going to tell me that she hired a sharpshooter and that he's here to kill me and burn the corpse. I mean Renee is _never_ apologetic.

My shit just got more fucked up from that point.

"So I'm sending you to live with your father, Charlie. He- uh, he misses you?" Nice one, Ma. Just let that question dangle in the way that you know destroys me. Make it a question not because you don't know if he misses me, but because you don't know _how _he could miss me. Thanks for that.

"So you're flight is tomorrow. Pack your bags and drive yourself over in the morning. All the details and your passport are here," she handed me a brown envelope, "Bye."

Then she walked out the door, probably to go visit her flavor of the month, Phil.

Then I was crying.

I never cry. Not anymore, but this was a special occasion. I mean, I was leaving the only place I could ever slightly consider home, familiar. I was going to see a father that I'd only met at least five times in my whole seventeen years of life. I was going to hell named after utensils, a.k.a. Forks.

My mother didn't even say she loved me, didn't even look back even though she would probably never see me again. It took all of 25 seconds to say goodbye, probably forever.

I mean, who are we kidding? I won't ever come back here, and she'll probably never come visit me. But the main reason why I was crying wasn't any of that. It was because Renee had accidentally brushed my hand on the way out. It was because _she_ was the one to flinch away, not me.

And it was because, in that one moment, it was the first time I'd ever heard her think my name and feel happy at the same time:

_Isabella's leaving. Finally. _

Radiance.

Then I laughed. You know why? Because I had one phrase going over and over in my mind, the one thing that summed up my existence right then and there. Such a simple little sentence.

Life sucks.

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REVIEW PLEASE. PLEASE?


	2. Pink Lightning

_Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns everything. I am but her humble servant._

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Ah for fuck's sake!

Little by little I could see the storm, raging and roiling all around me. The clouds were like little lakes of freezing water, and I could just about see the little fishies. Out to bite me, of course. Mother freaking nature decided to give me more that one 'gift' this month, apparently. Now I had some freak-storm to worry about. Then the lightning flashed, one, two, three times. That's when I noticed.

The lightning was pink.

_What the fu-_

RING! BLEEP!

I rolled off the bed in surprise, hitting my head on the dresser as I went. Then I was spread eagle on the floor, chin touching the ground, arms spread out, back arched and legs still on bed.

A typical waking up position if I do say so myself.

"Hummmmmmmmm. Find your inner Bella. The Swan ready to take flight." I burst out laughing at that. Yeah me and my stupid little Swan complex. I guess I'm more likely to find my inner Ugly-Duckling while fake meditating.

I slid my legs off the bed, rolled on my side, and painfully stood up. My knees cracked, my back ached, and my head swam with the image of pink lightning. Jeez, that was one weird dream, even for me. I closed my eyes and could still see Pepto Bismol flashing across the sky.

_Cringe._ NOT the time to be thinking about indigestion.

Yawning, I stumbled my way over to my dresser. The mirror reflected back at me a plain girl. Brown hair, brown eyes with a hint of defiance (well I _am_ a teenager), and lips that hardly smiled. Right now they were bared as I practiced my mean look for the morning. Curl top lip, widen eyes, bare teeth, growl.

Perfect.

Satisfied, I turned to the closet. God I hate closets. They're always so small and dark and monsters live in them. It's messed up I tell you. So I tiptoed over to the menacingly harmless closet like the dork that I am and smacked the light on.

"Hah monsters! Die! Feel the wrath of the restless and the idle!" I love killing my bedtime stories. Monsters in the closet? Psh, the only monster I know is Renee and she wouldn't touch my dresser with a ten foot stiletto heel.

Did I say I hated my closet? Never mind, I love my closet.

Smile in place and looting for clothes. Wow that's a good morning for me. Anything important today? Dressing up? Then it hit me.

Forks. Renee. Charlie. Freak. Leaving. Leaving me.

I stopped and fell to the floor, loopy mood ultimately smothered by shock and despair. All I could think was 'I'm leaving.' I'm leaving my home, my school, my mom, my friends-

Wait a second? What friends? I have no friends.

I have no friends. I hate my mother because she hates me. I _despise _my school. Everybody here knows I'm a freak, I mean they don't know _why_, they just know that I _am. _I don't have a home, really.

I looked around at my room, taking in the bed, the dresser, closet, and tiny window in the corner. The plain cream walls and bed sheet; this place looked like a hotel room. Somewhere to crash for the night and then move on. There was no touch of personality to it, no pictures of friends or baubles hanging from the ceiling. Hell, I didn't even have that stereotypical lipstick studded mirror on the dresser!

Really, if you didn't know that this was my room, you'd probably be like," Oh look! They have _two_ guest bedrooms!"

Well, then again, I guess they do _now_. You know, since I'm moving in with dear old Charlie.

Which reminds me, why the hell am I sad? I mean, really! I have a chance to start over somewhere! Isn't that the dream of every little lost and rejected girl? I have a chance to become _part_ of the crowd. I have a chance to have friends. And yesterday when I found out that this holy and wonderful miracle was going to happen to little old me, I _cried_?

Fuck that! It's time to celebrate!

Finally realizing that it wasn't the end of the world, that in fact, this was the best day of my life, I scurried out of the closet only half clothed. Find the envelope, the big brown envelope. And bingo! There it was on the bed. I snatched it up and dumped the contents out on the only piece of clean floor I could find. Then the next five minutes commenced as such:

Scrabble, scrabble, where, where, where did it go? Ah ha! Found you. Shake out the flight info, straighten the flight info, and examine the flight info. Scroll, scroll, read down and down and down. There it is. Now let's make some sense of these numbers…12:45… wait a second-

"12:45?!" I screeched it at the paper and then at the clock. The stupid, dumb, evil little clock that read out my impending doom…12:00.

"I have 45 fucking minutes to pack up all possessions, look presentable, and drive 15 minutes to the airport?!" WHAT THE HELL?

Karma officially hates me.

I ran to the closet and pulled out a suitcase from the back. I threw in all the items of mine I could reach, grabbed some probably mismatched outfit to wear, and threw anything else I might want to take with me into the black hole of a bag. 10 minutes later I was packed with suitcase and purse. Another 5 minutes later had me lugging said bags down stairs and me in black shorts a gray tee with a cat saying "Mess the cat, you got the claws" and my old, worn Airwalk wanna-be Converse. Gotta love wanna-bes!

Grunting and heaving that stupid fucking gorilla case into the back of my Oldsmobile had me sweating. In a gray shirt. On a hot sunny day in Phoenix, Arizona.

Well shit.

Let's just refrain from EVER lifting our arms and all will be fine.

I hopped into the ugly yellow taxi cab thing that Renee gave me so I wouldn't 'call her up every time I didn't have a ride and be ungrateful about it'. Bitch. Only thing I'm ungrateful about is your stupid genetics that landed me with my freaky mind- skin powers. Fucking Renee.

So I put the key in the ignition and was soon speeding my way down the highway at 70 mph. The breeze was cool and hot guys were smiling at me from their cars, and I miraculously made it to the airport in 3 minutes flat. Then Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner carried my suitcase to my own private jet where I played 'pin the explosive to the _live_ bitch ass mom'. Who then promptly blew up while I laughed. And nobody noticed my smelly, sweaty pits.

Yeah, I wish.

What really happened was that the key for the ignition was-uh, well... the wrong key. So I had to run back inside and find the right key, which took me 4 extra minutes. Then the car wouldn't start up properly so I had to push start it. Which took twenty feet and ten minutes to do. Next on the list of catastrophes was a fucking GAGGLE OF GEESE crossing the fucking road. I mean, really?! Geese in Arizona? Then there just HAD to be traffic and morons who can't drive on the highway. So by the time I got to the airport I had 10 minutes to board.

Oh fuck. God, please, if you are up there and listening to me, I beg of you to please get me through this and to the plane on time with small amounts of bitchitude from staff members. If you could do that I would be mighty grateful and will attempt to stop swearing. Just attempt.

Is that too much to ask of a supernatural being?

Ten minutes later I was on the plane.

I was also on the plane extremely annoyed, embarrassed, and pissed off. Why? Well let me tell you a little story called " Public Humiliation and Harassment in only 10 minutes," by Bella Swan.

Once upon a time in an airport not so far away, stood a sweaty armpit girl. She had a black hole mammoth bag and a dainty little purse in her hand. The mammoth bag was hard to drag into the airport because its wheels were so old and rusty. So when an older man stepped forward and offered to help her she accepted graciously, thinking her luck had turned.

Stupid sweaty girl.

While she strolled into the terminal, brimming with anxiousness and prayer, the man slipped something into her purse. She would later realize that it was a rather NOT harmless something. Actually it was about the worst thing possible to slip into her bag. So sweaty girl went ahead, not knowing the stress and danger she was putting herself into by doing so.

Sweaty girl got her boarding pass and luggage checked with general ease. Soon she was walking through security and passing under the little beeping arch, when the nice people working the machine started saying some rather worrying things.

"Carl, get over here. I think you should check this out." The nice lady at the monitor motioned to her co-worker with a rather serious face. Sweaty girl was the only one getting checked by security so she knew that they were discussing her belongings. The co-worker, whose name was Carl, ran over and looked at the screen. Carl and the serious faced lady examined it together, their eyes darting back and forth between the screen and sweaty girl.

They looked like they were watching a tennis match. Where the opponents shot bullets at each other from each side of the net.

Needless to say, sweaty girl got scared.

"Mam," Carl said in a very professional tone, "we'd like you to step forward into this area here," he pointed to a chair that was surrounded on three sides by a glass wall, "and please take a seat while we examine your bag's contents." Sweaty girl, who was getting sweatier by the minute, complied and watched with growing terror as he nodded to another co-worker who blocked her only escape from the almost-prison.

She was surrounded on three sides by glass and on one side by a slightly smaller and more normally colored Incredible-Hulk. This all took place within about 2 minutes. Sweaty girl knew she was in trouble, and not because her flight left in 8 minutes.

But because she wasn't sure if they'd even _let_ her get on her flight.

Carl dumped her bag onto the conveyor belt and emptied it. Then he shifted the contents around until, with a grim face, he pulled up a little plastic bag filled with a fine white- yellowish powder. Sweaty girl looked on confusedly.

What is that, she thought, for she knew she hadn't packed anything like it into her purse. Carl waltzed his way over and asked the man-mountain to take a step back. He leaned down to her eye level holding the bag with the weird material in front of him. Carl had murky blue eyes. Sweaty girl had never liked blue eyes. Her mother had blue eyes, just like Carl.

Sweaty girl didn't like her mother.

She didn't like Carl and his little powdery bag either.

Sweaty girl glanced nervously between him and the bag. Then behind him at the clock. She had six minutes to get this over with, and time was running out.

"Mam, would you mind telling me where you got this?" Sweaty girl didn't like his tone. It was very presumptuous. Presumptuous people thought they knew everything.

"I don't even know _what_ it is. Now would you mind letting me get to my plane? I need to go. Now." She stared defiantly into the blue eyes. Blue like the ocean.

But she didn't care much for the ocean either. Fish peed and pooped in the ocean. People died in the ocean. Being stuck in the middle of the ocean was a bad, bad thing.

Just like this was a bad, bad thing.

Carl smirked. Which made sweaty girl angry. Then he opened his big fat pie-hole again, still wasting time. Why didn't he just let her through?

"This, little missy, is meth. A highly illegal drug. Now how did someone like you get something like this and bring it to somewhere like, oh, I don't know, this airport?" He smiled again, thinking she was going to break down and confess.

Too bad the 'little missy' was spitting mad.

"Now listen here! I am not a 'little missy' and I did not bring that in with me. You said it yourself _Carl," _at the sound of his name she curled her lip, "how could someone like _me_, by which I take it you mean someone wholly innocent, bring it somewhere like here? Do I look as stupid as that?" She huffed and puffed, ready to set his little house on fire. She glanced at the clock again, 5 minutes. Then she turned back to Carl and waited.

He looked bored. Which just made her angrier.

"I'm the one asking the questions here miss, and I've got me an illegal substance from _your_ bag in my hand. Answer how that came to happen please." The smug smile was on his stupid ratty face again. Sweaty girl was _pissed._

She stood up, knocking her stupid little chair to the floor. The motion caused Carl to fall back off his heels onto his ass. She smirked in satisfaction; now she had the higher ground. She bent her head and looked him in his ugly fish-feces eyes.

"I have _4 minutes_ left to get on an expensive flight that you are stupidly keeping me off. A man helped me into the airport not but 5 minutes ago. Maybe he slipped it into my bag. Go check your security cameras and call my flight. If I miss it," She glared at his slightly scared features, "there will be _absolute hell_ to pay. You hear me?" He nodded dumbly and jumped up. The serious looking lady, who had a better head on her shoulders, turned on the camera and pulled up a scene. Sweaty girl waited as the two looked on and conversed.

4 minutes…3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Carl turned and looked at her sheepishly.

"Uh sorry miss, I just saw the man you mentioned slip a distinct looking powder filled bag into your purse." Sweaty girl nodded triumphantly, dashed around the man-mountain (who looked quite impressed), grabbed her purse, and ran to her boarding area. She was just on time and made it on the plane. She stored her purse under the seat in front of her, pulled on her belt, and was seated comfortably in her chair in record time waiting for take off. She lived Happily Ever After. The End.

Yeah fucking right.

So there is my tale of frustration. I made it on the plane in time, no thanks to the jack-off Carl. But I was now irritated, even more sweaty, flushed, and sitting next to someone who looked JUST. LIKE. CARL.

I mean, what the fuck? These guys could be freaking brothers or something. Same oily brown hair, ratty features, and ocean-feces eyes. Seriously? That was just wrong. It was bad enough that one guy had to look like that. Now I just felt bad for the look-alike. If I had to share features with that fucker I would probably _grow_ the guts to kill myself.

I realized that I had developed a pretty intense hatred for some guy I'd only had a short conversation with. I guess it wasn't really healthy or anything, but still. He just ticked me off. Then I realized that Carl II was backed into the window as far away from me as he could get. He looked like he wanted to melt into the wall.

He also looked like he would pee his pants.

I saw that terrified face and noticed that I was glaring. Like glaring, _glaring._ I was glaring like I wanted to shove a sharp 10 inch knife through his skull and carve out his brain. I was also giving him a little of my signature mean look on the side. You know, the one I practiced in the mirror this morning.

Feeling sorry for the poor guy, I eased off a bit and kind of, well, _tried_ to smile kindly at him.

I'm pretty sure I looked like the Cheshire Cat with a bad case of the runs.

He let up off the window a bit and smiled weakly in return. He obviously had no idea why I seemed to dislike him so much. Hoping to keep it that way.

"Hi there. My name is Isabella, but most people call me Bella." Most people meaning just me and now this sad loser. I extended my hand, though reluctantly, to him. He shook my hand, and I'm pretty sure there was some trembling going on. I cringed as the sensation of apprehension overtook my senses,

_Dude, this chick is going to kill me and I don't know the fuck why. Maybe she's a serial killer or something._

I pulled my hand back fastish and wiped his sweat off on the armrest. Well at least he knows who's in charge here.

"My name is Logan." Great. Logan. I _hate_ the name Logan. It's actually second on my Worst- Names-Ever list to Carl. I bet he could see the dislike on my face.

"Wow. What a _choke, hack_ um _nice_ name you have (swallow down the bile) Logan. Do you have another name? Like a nickname or something?" Oh _please_ have a nickname. Other than Logie. _Shudder_, that's just as bad.

He smiled nervously, "Uh yeah, but it's kind of embarrassing." He turned a bit pink around the ears. "See, I died my hair senior year of high school. Purple. And one day in the cafeteria, I had um a case of the runs. So, you know I got to the bathroom as fast as I could." At that he turned positively magenta.

"Yeah, and I went to a small school so everybody saw my mad dash. And it was the middle of the year, so the dye-job had gone kind of awry. If you get my drift. They said I ran the fastest they'd ever seen that day. Of course, the notorious name didn't follow me to college. I'm a freshman at the University of Illinois," his chest puffed out a bit, expecting me to look impressed. Apparently we'd gotten over the scary-chick-looks-like –she-wants-to-cut-out-my-brains stage and moved onto the 'I am college man, hear me roar.'

I think I liked the cutting out the brains stage better.

"So what was that nickname again? I don't think I heard you." His chest deflated like a popped balloon. I lifted my hand, feigning wiping my lip, to hide my smirk. He looked around nervously, like this was a life or death secret and ninja cats were lurking in the carry-ons.

"Well, since I don't know you, I might as well," he looked scared and miserable. And like he might pee his pants again.

"I am holding you to the strictest confidence here, so no telling anybody about it." He saw the look in my eye when he tried to order me to do something and flinched.

"I mean, _please_ don't tell anyone." I smiled.

Good dog.

He took a deep breath, looked me in the eye, and turned pink again. Wait, _pink._ Dreams, and Pepto Bismol and conversations with myself after that strange dream all came flashing back in an instant with that single little color. _Pink. Flash…_

"My nickname was Pink Lightning."

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REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW. THIS CHAPTER GOES OUT TO ECXE. I LOVE YOU!

BTW, IF YOUR NAME IS CARL OR LOGAN, PLEASE DON'T TAKE OFFENSE OF MY BELLA'S HATRED FOR THOSE NAMES.

I LIKE THE NAMES CARL AND LOGAN. I ALSO LIKE BLUE EYES.

NO OFFENSE PEOPLE,

PEACE OUT


	3. The Aircraft from Hell

_Disclaimer: I do not, in any shape or form, own Twilight or its characters. I just am not able to make up my own book._

_Enjoy!_

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Rumble. Grumble.

You know what? I fucking hate my life. Like, FML baby. F.M.L.

See, right now I'm on a plane, right? So far, so good.

But I'm in a really bad mood. A _very _bad mood.

A few things, including the fact that I got on the plane absolutely pissed in the _first _place (let's give a round of applause to the cock knocker Carl), have caused me to be the way I am now. Which is fucking spitting fire, my friend.

One, I'm sitting next to a dipshit nicknamed Pink Lightning.

_Pink Lightning._

I mean, really? Not only is that weird and setting my gay-dar on high alert, but I also had a freaky and somewhat prophetic dream about pink lightning. That pisses me off because if I start having prophetic dreams then my fucked up shit just got more fucked up.

And that is _bad._

Secondly, I am really effing exhausted. I have no idea why, seeing as it's only around 1:00. It must be the whole mental-Carl-I-hate-you thing that's wiped me out. Oh and the fact that I am uprooting my sorry excuse for a life. Hopefully Forks will be better.

If my life was a movie I bet it would be pretty funny to anybody but me. I mean a teenager with 'superpowers', the worst luck ever, and a tendency to trip over her own two left feet?

Comedic gold.

I can just imagine it:

Episode 1: Meet Forks. Synopsis: our heroine, Bella, goes about her merry way into a town full of demons. She has no idea what is about to happen until the elderly neighbor named Helga tries to eat her on her way to market. Bella finds she cannot hear anyone's thoughts because they are demons and realizes that the demons aren't that bad. She goes on and makes friends, occasionally having to beat off a really hungry hell monster.

Forks keeps looking better and better, doesn't it?

Personally, I believe that my imaginary life in a TV show would be more interesting than what I'm sure is waiting for me in Forks.

Which happens to be nothing.

Yeah, so I have a bad seat, I was in a bad mood getting on the stupid plane in the _first _place, and I am now extremely exhausted but can't sleep because the creeper Logan took the window seat and I refuse to put my head on his shoulder. Actually I refuse to lose any sort of consciousness next to him. He 'accidentally' brushed my hand a few minutes ago and his thoughts were enough to make me pull out the barf bag.

I am not fucking kidding. The bastard made me puke.

And you know what the worst thing is? The one thing I was trying to avoid but wasn't able to because I didn't wake up early enough to take care of? See, you would think, that after being so nauseated to the point of actually puking, I wouldn't have this kid of thing happening to little old me.

I am hungry.

_On an airplane._

Now, if you have never tried airplane food, you wouldn't know why this fact is so excruciatingly terrible. Really. Airline food is the stuff from nightmares. It literally is given to you while still in its synthetic-living state. Meaning it was never actually alive.

But it can still kind of crawl off your plate. And maybe hold a bit of conversation if they give you the talkative meals. Like the ravioli. Very gossipy.

Now you're probably like, "Haha Bella. You're so funny! Food that talks! So not true!"

Right?

How about, um NO. I am NOT joking around here people. I will give you a visual if you need one: _a la _Frankenstein's children's offspring with an exotic turkey. That hasn't exactly officially died yet.

Can I hear a yummy, yummy crawled out my tummy and into the toilet bowl?

I'm with you all the way.

I would really like to ignore the fact that I am fucking starving because I missed breakfast and lunch and dinner the night before, but I can't. Then again, I refuse to eat the trays of barf they are handing out so I guess I'll just starve.

Hey, it's better than the alternative. I mean, can you imagine having to eat the chunky, slimy, snot flavored intestines of-

Oh jeez. Why did I start thinking about it?

Feeling nauseous and icky again, I scrambled around in my seat for the barf bag. I did a good job of not making any contact with Logan, who happened to be chowing down on the atrocity I just mentioned. Actually, what he was eating looked a lot like the stuff in my barf bag. Kind of chunky and pink and-

Bad, bad Bella. Do NOT go there.

I found the barf bag and looked in, deciding to not finish my thought processes.

Or food comparisons.

Then I saw something truly terrifying.

The bag was full. Oh shit!

The bag being full means seeing a whole lot of stinky bile and saliva. Which makes me want to puke even more. Which means that I have to get up and, and… gulp- walk to the bathroom.

Which inevitably means brushing up against someone.

Oh fuckity, fucking, fuck.

This is not good. Not good at all. I hate planes, I really do. How the hell am I supposed to keep down all this bile when I'm probably going to brush up against someone sick and then I'll have that rolling sensation in my stomach multiply. Which will result in my puking on the poor freak I end up touching.

And that poor freak will probably puke all over me too.

I hate airplanes, I really do.

Be brave Bella. You can do it. You will stand and make it all the way to the bathroom without exploding.

Decision made, I stood shakily and stared the long walk to the toilet right in the eye.

Bring it fucker, I dare you.

I took one step, then another. One foot in front of the other. Breathe, baby steps. I was almost there when some old guy decided he was going to just randomly throw his arm out into the aisle. Seriously? Like do you just want to hit me or do you have no control over any of your limbs?

And then that stupid wrinkly old arm of his brushed my hand and _boom_, old man thoughts that went something like this:

A warm, tingly sensation from the old dude and a sentence that really ruined my fucking day.

_I wonder if Berta would like to join the 'Mile High Club.' That's what the kids these days call it, right?_

I whipped my head around real fast and just stared at the guy in horror. Then at what I presume was Berta, the geezer drooling in her sleep next to him. I'm pretty sure he thought I was crazy or something. Hell, _I_ thought I was crazy.

Do old people really think things like that on an airplane? And in public? Do they?

And then all I could think about was my trip to the Mile High Club's nefarious meeting hall (a.k.a. the bathroom). And I just wanted to throw up even more. So I'm pretty sure my face didn't just go horrified but also pretty green because the creepster was looking at me worriedly.

You know how people get when they think somebody's gonna puke on them.

"Watch out!" That was all I was able to scratch out before I leaned over the seat, grabbed what I'm guessing was Berta's lunch tray, and vomited all over her scrumptious Boyar-Don't meal. Mm-mm good!

Well at least her, um, puke-worthy meal lived up to its expectations.

Berta woke up and squealed like a frog, all croaky and cranky and I almost laughed. Except I was too busy emptying my already empty stomach onto her mess of mostaccioli. At least I think that's what it was supposed to be.

After dry heaving for about another 15 seconds, I dazedly looked up into the seniors' disgusted faces. Then I blurted out something that you never blurt out to anyone. _Especially_ a stranger who looks like they've lived long enough to have met Tyrannosaurus-Rex in the flesh.

"Hey Berta, when mister horny over there asks you to do a little MHC, say NO. Again and again. Think of the children, Berts, think of the children!"

Then I stumbled my way back over to my crappy seat.

Like I've said, I really hate airplanes.

Oh yeah did I mention that I was sitting next to another MHC candidate? Who was hoping to be paired up with me?

I told you he made you puke.

Yep, Logan was horny for little old me. You'd think that after the whole staring him down until he felt like peeing his pants would discourage him.

Apparently not.

So all I could do was sit and lean away as far as my body would allow me to. Which wasn't very far considering I was wearing my seatbelt.

Sixty minutes left. Fifty-nine…Fifty-eight…Fifty-seven…etc.

By the time I got to thirty I was getting really, really bored. Bored enough to hold a conversation with Pink Lightning.

Have I told you that I make some really stupid, stupid choices sometimes? Well, yeah, this was one of them.

"So, uh, Logan. What's up? With life and everything I mean." He looked pretty psyched that I was trying to communicate with him. Even though he could clearly see that I was practically doing a backbend into the aisle I was leaning so far.

"Oh it's been pretty boring, you know. Just talking with the guys, doing homework, sleeping. What most college people do," he shrugged," although things have been looking up recently."

He smiled this totally slimy disgusting smile at me and I just barely contained my cringe. When I didn't smile back, just kind of stared back at him cluelessly, he decided to help get his point across.

Quite clearly, I might add.

He actually leaned forward and breathed his dead fish breath into my eyes, which were starting to water from the stench.

"You know, when I got on the plane I didn't think I'd get the pleasure of sitting next to someone as beautiful as you." He smiled, real proud of himself. Oh you probably think you're so smooth, _don't_ you Pepto Bismol?

I smiled back, baring my teeth.

"Not interested." But he didn't take the hint. He leaned closer until he was at my ear. Which was quite an accomplishment seeing as I was almost reclining on the hand rest of the people across from me.

"Don't be such a tease, Benna. I know you want me."

Alright, that pissed me off. He smelled like some serious BO, his oily hair was getting my face all slimy, he didn't even get my _name_ right, and I really hate when people make presumptions. Presumptuous people are the absolute _worst_.

"You know what I want, Logan?" He nodded his head real excitedly and this made him brush up against my cheek-

_Mile High Club, Mile High Club-_

"I want you to get the fuck out of my face and sit your scrawny ass as far away from me as you can get it. I want you to sit so far from me that you are almost out the goddamn window and then I'll just _maybe_ let you off this aircraft from hell with your balls. That is, if you even have any." He still didn't back away (I'm hoping that he was frozen from fear), so I decided to make a little physical contact to get him out of my personal space.

With a friendly fist to the face.

Logan stayed back pretty far for the rest of the flight and we sat in absolute silence. Him in terror, and me just barely keeping from laughing my head off. Why? Well, when I happened to give him a bloody nose he was thinking that I'd made him piss his pants.

And when the plane landed he pulled his shirt down as far as it would go so as to cover the stain.

But I was a little too preoccupied with getting off the damn thing to go and laugh in his ugly, bloody face. Actually, the minute the plane touched ground, I was out of my seat and at the door. Even though the signs clearly said seatbelts on.

And some other asstastic flight attendee decided they were gonna call me out on my shit.

"Mam," she whined in her glass breaking voice," the sign clearly says to stay seated."

"Really? Does it?" I said as sweetly as I could," Well my foot is telling me to not listen to snooty bitches who's ass I'm about to kick. So if you have any semblance of self-preservation, please _leave me alone_." I then pointed over at Logan, who was still sporting a rather bloody nose. Bitch left me alone and passed the message along to her friends, who kindly kept their distance.

Then the doors were open and I was running out and through the airport to the exit, just so happy that I was finally free. And someone was waving at me and I waved back because that's what you do when someone, especially if that someone is you dad, waves at you. Charlie and I stared at each other across all the other scuttling people in the room. And that's when it hit me.

Forks.

Oh fuck, get me back on that plane.

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PLEASE, I BEG OF YOU, REVIEW! JUST PRESS THE LITTLE BUTTON AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!!!


	4. Utensils from Hell

So. Damn. Quiet.

Why so damn quiet?

Well maybe because I'm in a car with my father, whom I've seen fewer times in my life than the pizza boy. Maybe because the two of us are just sitting in this damn squad car and driving through the damn wilderness to the middle of nowhere. And maybe, just maybe, me and Charlie have inherited the awkward gene in our lineage. Meaning you could hear a damn fucking pin drop from a mile away. On a plush carpet. A pin the size of an eyelash.

Yeah. That might be why.

"Hmph, uh, Bell…a?"

That was about the most descript and non-awkward sentence that Charlie had ever said to me. Just kidding. But really, that was pretty eloquent for my Papa Bear as I like to call him.

You know, seeing as papa bears don't really ever interact with their offspring.

Not like Renee was a great mama bear or anything, I mean the only reason she took me was because she wanted my dad to pay her the child support money and everything. Oh, and because I'm guessing she probably thought I would be like a cute little puppy or something.

Either that or she was going to auction me off.

"Um, yeah Char- I mean Dad?" I awkwardly cleared my throat, the stupid blush splashing across my face. I hate blushing. It lets everyone instantly know what I'm feeling and it makes my cheeks look like a cherry red tomato.

I hate cherry red tomatoes.

"Well," Charlie awkwardly went on, "I was wondering if you had your license yet or-"

"Wait what? Of course I do. Why?" I was suspicious. When people know that you have a privilege, such as the ability and legal permission to drive, they take advantage of it. Or at least Renee does. The minute I had my license she had me out getting the groceries and doing menial tasks that she was just 'too damn busy' to do. Probably because she was fucking the masses. I actually feel quite sorry for Phil, he's marrying a whore.

Anyways, back to the subject at hand.

I stared quite fixedly at the side of Charlie's head. And he stared quite fixedly at the road in front of him. With some cherry red tomato cheeks.

Well at least we know who I get_ that_ from.

"Um, well… I was wondering if maybe youwouldlikeacar?" This last sentence was spit out almost too fast for me to hear. The operative word being almost.

"Wait what?!" I shrieked out my surprise and grabbed his arm. You know, just to make sure he wasn't lying.

_Please say yes. Please say yes. I've already bought it, but that's what dads are supposed to do right? Pamper their daughters? And Bella deserves more pampering than anyone else, considering how terrible her damn 'mother' has been. My poor baby girl._

My face softened considerably as I looked at Charlie. I'd never gotten the sense of extreme affection from him but only because I know that Charlie is more of a recluse, like me. But it's nice to know he cares about me more than that bitch.

I smiled at him, "Yeah actually, that would be great. I was hoping to get a job anyways. And it wouldn't be so cool if you drove me to high school in the cruiser." At that I motioned to the aforementioned cruiser. He smiled sheepishly.

"So what did you have in mind?" He let out a huge breath of relief and looked at me out of the corner of his eye like a little kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Well, I already bought it…" he smiled again. "It's an old 1953 Chevrolet, red and bulky. You know Billy Black? The guy you and I used to go fishing with when you were a kid?" I winced. Oh how _couldn't _I remember Old Billy and the stupid freaking fishing trips? They were absolute nightmares. Although that Jacob kid was fun to hang out with.

"Wait, didn't he have a son around my age? Jacob Black?" Charlie relaxed visibly; probably glad that I could remember anyone at all.

"Yeah Jake's the one who used to have the car. I bought it from his dad after they repaired the engine and interior. That car would have been scrap metal without the kid; he's quite the mechanic." Charlie smiled cheekily at me. "And he's just about your age too. A good looking enough boy if you know what I mean."

"Dad!" I looked at him half shocked half mortified as he laughed his ass off. When he saw my telltale bright red cheeks he burst into a new round of hearty guffaws.

Great, just great. Charlie gets to leave behind his crippling shell of shyness at my expense. And I can just go on and slowly retreat into my hidey-hole. Bummer.

"So, anyways. What do you do around here? You know in the middle of nowhere?" Charlie smiled cheekily again, recognizing the topic switch.

I'm really good at being obvious.

"Bells! It's not the middle of nowhere! It's Forks!" I guess he was in a good mood now. But still. Forks? Middle of Nowhere? Same freaking thing. I mentioned as much to him but he didn't seem to get the hint.

"Well, there's beautiful wildlife. You know, when it's not raining. And La Push is the best beach you could find on the West Coast. When it's not raining." I looked out at the rain batting the windshields and slate gray clouds.

Yeah everything's better when it's not raining. Which is why Forks sucks.

I smiled wryly at the dashboard. Charlie caught it and patted my arm sympathetically.

_She'll get used to it. I hope._

He sounded so concerned, so caring. Like he actually wanted me to be happy. That was enough to get me out of my sour mood. I mean, I had a parental figure who liked me, I had a new place to start over, and nobody I thought I was a freak yet. Well, then again I haven't really met anyone but Charlie yet so that doesn't really count. But still.

What better place to start over than in the middle of nowhere?

By the time my little inner cheerleader shut the hell up, we'd pulled into Forks: population 1069. Haha 69. Wait, shit, they can count out the population?

Like the exact population?

This place has less people in a town than I had in my old high school.

Sheesh.

We drove past a restaurant and a thrift shop thing that had the word 'Newton' on it. Then there was a stoplight (I know shocker) and a gas station and then a low brown brick building with the words "Forks High School." Except some of the letters had fallen off or deteriorated somehow so it looked like "For s Hi S hool."

Well hi to you too shool.

After the pitiful excuse for a high school, we managed to pass the library which put me in a better mood. I love books with a fiery passion. They are the saviors of my soul and many of them feature heroines like me with freaky super powers. And they manage to be cool. Unlike me.

So yeah. There was a restaurant, a thrift shop, a gas station, a 'high school', a library, and miles and miles of puke green forest. I was considering puking myself to compare the colors of my bile and the icky wet woods when we pulled into a driveway.

_The_ driveway.

I looked up at the sky blue shingles, chipping in the rain. The peeling twenty year old paint job, the white wooden door, which I'm sure had some squeaky hinges, the crisply mowed front lawn, the four little box windows; everything was the same way that I remember it being. Along with the house came the memories of countless hours in the smelly dingy fishing boat on the green algae infested water. I could almost see the slimy dead eyes of the days' poor victims, flopping around on deck halfheartedly.

Another weird thing about my curse is that I can 'hear' what animals are thinking too. But it's more of a sensation than anything. They don't really think in words, but in pictures, and their emotions crowd out everything else. So if I touched, let's say, a dog that was happy, I'd probably feel like I was on shrooms with sheer joy and then be bombarded by images of happy doggy things.

Like biscuits, and bones, and nice people.

Well what can I say? Dogs are easily pleased.

But yeah, so every single time I managed to even just brush against one of those poor dying fish I'd get the most horrid little sensations. Despair, pain, agony, the poor things were absolutely terrified! Now, I'm not a vegetarian by any means, I mean the animal is already dead so I don't see the point. But I refuse to eat any freshly caught fish. That's like cannibalism.

I pulled myself off memory lane when daddy dear started knocking on my window. I got out and followed him up the stairs to the wooden door, through the door, and into the tactless mismatched sitting room. Yellow walls, green couch, orange carpet, one of those prehistoric TV sets. All it was missing was a tiger skin rug.

That would be just precious.

Charlie brought the bags upstairs and I followed him up. Creak, creak, creak went the stairs as I counted to ten. Ten steps, one hall, three rooms: bathroom, Charlie's room, my room. The bathroom was in the middle, his was on the end, and mine was a foot from where the stairs ended. Well I'm gonna fucking fall down the stairs every morning aren't I?

"Bella, I hope you be careful in the mornings," Charlie looked meaningfully at the treacherously small space between door and stairs, "I know you're a klutz. No offense or anything but I remember that every time one of the kids fell out of our boat and I had to jump into the water I ended up pulling out you." Well that was true. I mean Charlie wasn't stupid. I either liked the water or was very bad at not falling out of the boat.

Apparently he picked the correct option.

"Dad. I'll be fine. I'm tough so even if I do fall down the stairs I'll be good. I mean stitches? Broken bones? Been there done that." He smirked. I smirked. Then we both glared at the space.

"Well, that's true, I suppose…" He went on slowly, "But be careful anyways. Just because you've been there done that before doesn't mean it won't hurt. And I'd rather you enjoyed yourself here safely." He said it so.. _Dadly_.. that I couldn't help but throw my arms around him in a hug.

_I love you baby girl._

I smiled into his shoulder than backed up real quick. We were both scarlet in the face, but each of us pleased in our own way. He smiled shyly, turned, and walked down the stairs, leaving me free to get myself settled in. I dragged my bags into the room. Same old small bed, desk, rocking chair in the corner. Cream colored walls. And an ancient piece of junk computer on the desk.

Me likey.

I placed my meager possessions on the rocking chair, jumped on the bed, and pulled the crisp cold covers up to my chin. The rain beat a tattoo into the small window and the curtains were drawn back. I stared and stared at the gray sky, gray like a piece of pavement. Gray like a washed out chalkboard.

A clean slated gray.

Empty of my history, and knowing nothing of this girl who knows of everyone else. A smooth expanse of nothingness waiting for something better. A clean break.

And I stared and stared until my eyes drooped and my breathing slowed and only one thought could pervade my premature comatose state:

Welcome to Forks, Utensils from Hell.


	5. Alarm Clocks and Supervision

Yay! 4,788 words! Enjoy the brilliance of 12 typed pages!ss

Disclaimer: I don't own this or anything at all. I am just unoriginal. Everything is the ultimate property of my idol SM.

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Not much can faze me.

I like to believe that having an idea of what's going on in other people's minds most of the time and the fact that I'm a klutz make me a pretty non-fazed kind of person. What's the point of getting frightened or surprised when you know what someone is going to do the minute they touch you? What's the point of getting a fright or rush of adrenaline right when you lose your balance if losing your balance is more natural to you than _keeping _your balance?

But there's always an exception.

One of those exceptions can be waking up to an obnoxiously blaring alarm clock. An obnoxiously blaring alarm clock that can sing "Ding-dong, the witch is dead." You know, from Oz. Follow the brick road and all that.

So yeah. My alarm clock woke me up at six in the morning to that amazingly ironic song. Once I got over the shock I just looked at it funny. I mean, what the hell? Is it programmed to randomly sing weird shit?

It would seem so.

This fucking alarm clock has been serenading me the most random…_stuff_… this last week. I can still remember the first morning.

There I was: gross clothes from the day before, hair greasy, breath smelling like puke. And I was lying on my bed in a position you wouldn't even find in a Karma Sutra book. _Not_ that I would know what is in that book. I've just, um, had a few positions from the said book… uh, projected to me out of countless perverted minds.

Except I got to see what the positions would look like in the real world. With elderly people.

Mile High Club ring any bells?

But yeah, I was lying in an almost impossible position and drooling all over the floor, (Not the pillow. The floor.) when I heard a sort of creepy song in my mind. Like, a funeral song or something, which didn't make sense because I was dreaming of rainbows and talking dust particles that floated into your brain and made you do stuff.

Trust me, I myself don't even know what the hell is going on in my mind most of the time.

So yeah, pretty dust bunnies with mind control and rainbows were normal. Scary slow songs that should be from horror movies are not normal. It sounded like something by the Pedobears. And Pedobears invented the word creepy.

I sat up slowly, sleepily, in search of the crazy music. There was a piano and soft screeching noises and I thought I was going to be killed. The source of the goose bump worthy noise was sitting on the windowsill.

And it was a fucking alarm clock. A red fucking alarm clock with a rooster on it. It looked like one of those clocks from the Garfield cartoons and it looked so, I don't know, just plain _weird_ sitting on the windowsill. And the music coming out of it was even weirder. I mean, that wasn't there the day before. I would have known.

So I crawled out of bed as cautiously as I could, which wasn't very seeing as being cautious requires some semblance of grace, and tiptoed over to the freaky clock thing. The music was still coming out of it and I couldn't find any way to shut the damn thing up. It just played on and on and on until the clock showed that it had been three minutes past. Then it stopped. Mid-verse or whatever. It kind of just cut off real fast, like you could tell the song wasn't even over or anything, but the clock decided to just turn off.

Just. Like. That.

And it had been doing so every day since. Every morning for that first week I was woken up at six to the sound of some other song that would go on for three minutes exactly. It didn't matter if the song was only thirty seconds long or three minutes and one second long, it stopped at exactly 6:03 each morning and creeped the hell out of me. It would replay songs and stop songs and just keep going for the given amount of time and no more.

Quite honestly, I was impressed. Though still freaked.

I mean, that clock took shit from nobody. Not even Barney could get away with less or more than three minutes. (I love you, you love me, etc. played on Tuesday) The clock was all like, "If you're less than, I replay, if you're more than, I cut you off. You're going for the time I give you. No more no less."

That took balls.

So I respected an alarm clock. Sue me.

And back to my story:

After the whole stalker song ended, I realized just how gross I was and hightailed it to the bathroom. Yes, it was six in the morning. No, I was not tired. Actually I was never tired because of the Alarm Clock: Capital A, capital C. It woke me up and left me bewildered in a very unique way.

When I decided I was decent enough to count as a human being, I waltzed back into the room again. I unpacked, dressed the bed, and closed the drapes on the depressing rainy scene outside. Then I turned, smiled, and skipped my way to the door.

Bad choice.

I lost my footing, surprise, and down the stairs I went. I managed to somehow fall on my butt, thankfully, and bounced my way down. One, two, three, bruise, four, five, six, bite tongue, seven, knock back, eight, nine, ten and land! Bella gets a ten for a klutzy move well done!

I bowed, though painfully, to my audience of fridge, toaster, and sink. Then I straightened up and started breakfast.

Miraculously, Charlie didn't wake up from my amazing performance. So by the time I was full and ready to, well, do something, he was only barely awake and trudging down the steps.

"Morning Charlie." He grunted back, apparently too tired to correct my use of his given name. He yawned and stretched his arm out to scratch his back.

"Why're you up so early?" He blinked at me in a bleary confused kind of way.

It was pretty freaking adorable.

I giggled, actually giggled, which made him smile back at me.

"Well that alarm clock woke me up at six with some- uh, killer music. He blinked again, except he looked more confused than bleary right then. So I explained.

"You know, the alarm clock in my room. The red one with the chicken thing and the creepy music…" He still looked like he didn't have a clue about the clock.

"You…_did_ put the clock in my room, right? Right?" he slowly shook his head.

"Bella, what clock are you talking about? I haven't been in your room since I dropped off your bags yesterday." Alright then.

I've gone fucking bonkers.

Forks has done it. I am officially insane. You can place me in the asylum now if you'd like. I don't really mind strait jackets and padded rooms. Really.

I dragged Charlie up the stairs after me and pushed him into the room. His thoughts were a little sleepy and confuzzled but that was expected. But he was pretty weirded out when I started laughing maniacally. He'd been saying to himself how "the cheese had slid off my cracker." Oh jeez, how could I not laugh at that? Sigh, it was so true.

When I pointed and explained and gestured at the clock which sat so deceptively innocent by the window, he just stared and stared and stared. From the clock to me to the clock.

"Look at that! You see it right? That's there right? I'm not crazy. RIGHT?" Charlie looked more bewildered than ever but thankfully he was looking at the clock as if he saw it. At least I hope so.

"What the hell is that?" Phew. He could obviously see it. I just smiled, sighed, and shook my head.

"Who cares?" Then I walked out breezily, him trailing behind with what I am sure was an astonished expression. I didn't need to read his mind to know that he was thinking I was a little off my rocker.

Crazy? Me? Not yet I'm not.

If he thought I was bad that morning he has a lot coming to him.

So here I am. A week later and a whole lot more assured of my sanity. The alarm clock was still here and still freaky and I was just waking up very frazzled because I have found that waking up to "Ding-dong the witch is dead" on your first day in a new high school is not a good omen.

Yeah you read that right. Today was the day. Time to start all over at a new, thankfully smaller and less crowded high school.

I rolled out of bed and ran around getting all my things in order. When the music stopped I had my outfit picked out: gray superman shirt (superpowers? Mind reading abilities? Holla), my favorite ripped denim Capri's, my purple converse, a black hoodie, and my lucky sparkly hair tie. That thing has gotten me through every first day of school since second grade.

I grabbed my bag, shoved in my iPod, ugly little phone thing, and a random book. Twenty minutes later I was dressed, presentable, fed, and out the door in the driveway. Now Charlie had said something about a car-

Oh. My. Frick.

Sitting in the middle of the driveway was the most amazing piece of shit truck I had ever seen in my entire life. It was rusty and red and bulky and terribly old.

I loved it.

I ran over to the truck and there in the seat was dear old dad, smiling all self satisfied while I squealed. I was in awe.

"Thank you so much!" I screeched into his ear and he just kept on smiling.

"Yeah, you just missed Billy and Jacob. So I'm going to take a guess… You like?" He looked on imploringly.

"I love!" he smiled again and got out. Then he gestured at the car grandly.

"Then it's yours." I squealed again and hopped in, nearly vibrating in excitement as he walked away with that big easy smile on his face.

I love my dad.

I stroked the dashboard and made little cooing noises as the engine roared into life then settled into an erratic purr. I giggled, this was a record on the giggling scale, looked to see if anyone was watching, and hopped around in the seat clapping my hands like a little kid.

It was pretty disgraceful.

"I'm going to name you…Smithers!" I wasn't even sure if that was a real name but it fit. Maybe because the car looked like it might burst into smithereens at any given moment.

Yeah it was that old.

I pulled out of the driveway and with a glance at the clock , was on my way. My iPod was crooning the song "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay into my ears. I really love Chris Martin and his piano. They do wonders together.

Everything was perfect right then, even though it was raining and I had ten minutes to get to my new school. Even though I was nervous and excited all at once, everything seemed just fine. So on I drove to the low brown brick building which greeted me accordingly.

"For s Hi S hool." Well hi to you too shool.

I pulled in with five minutes to spare. The parking lot was practically deserted as I rushed, head down, through the rain and into the warmth of the school. Through the Plexiglas windows I could see a plump, tittering woman in her mid forties sitting behind a plain brown desk. I shook out my hair as I entered the office, and I suppose it was an office according to the big black block letters spelling out 'Office' over the door.

"Good Morning miss…" she trailed off politely.

"Isabella. But you can call me Bella." I smiled at her as she extended her hand and shook it.

_Chief Swan's daughter? She is very pretty, and what a beautiful name!_

I think I could get to like this lady.

"Hello Bella. I am Mrs. Cope. I presume you're a new student here at Forks High?" I nodded, "Well then welcome. You're a junior? Alright then. Here is your schedule and map of the school." She looked at the clock, "You have five minutes to get to your first class so you should probably hurry up. If you have any questions you know where to find me." She winked and I walked out of the room rather hurriedly. There's nothing worse than being late to your first class on the first day of school at a new school.

The schedule said I had Honors English first period. I guess my luck was pretty good today seeing as English is my favorite and my best subject. I nearly ran down the halls until I came to a screeching stop in front of the door. I got in just on time and sat as far back in the room as possible. I guess I really am lucky.

Karma happens to be a bitch.

The exact moment I thought that little comment the teacher decided to open her fat over friendly mouth and said one sentence that made me hate her.

"Class, we have a new student here today. Isabella Swan? Would you please introduce yourself?" F-U-C-K-I-N-G super.

I let out a little squeak as I stood up. My cheeks were already bright red.

"Um hi. My name's Isabella, but you can call me Bella I guess." Then I waved this stupid pathetic little wave and almost crawled under the desk.

Needless to say that I was stared at for the rest of the class.

When the bell rang I all but ran out of the class and on to my next one. That was how most of the day up until lunch progressed. I got into the class on time, got stared at, sometimes I got called up by douchebag teachers who were put on my hit list, and most disturbing of all, I managed to get some people to talk to me.

One was Mike:

"Sooo… Bella, huh?" He leaned a little closer than was necessary and breathed his sour breath into my face.

"You know, if you ever need anyone to show you around here I'm always free. If you agree to go out with me on Friday that is." Half of me was flattered that he actually found me attractive. The other half was disgusted.

The disgusted part won out when he 'accidentally' brushed my hand.

_She's pretty hot. You don't really get much new ass around here but she looks like a nice lay._

The fucker was practically panting on me and he was so totally sure that he could get himself some "new ass."

"No thanks. I think I can find my way around on my own." But the loser was not to be discouraged, of course. He decided to lean even closer and I decided to back up fastish.

"Come on, sweet little thing like you? You sure you don't want anyone to protect you from all the big bad people in this place who might want to take advantage of you? Because I'll be your protector babe, I promise."

What the fuck.

He just thought he was so smooth didn't he? Even though everything coming out of his mouth sounded like pickup lines you find at . He fell into the presumptuous category and as I hope I've mentioned, I really do hate presumptuous people. Like Carl, and Logan, and now apparently this shitface.

I didn't really care that I was still nervous about the new school and that it was rather flattering that he found me attractive. I forgot everything except for the fact that this idiot was hitting on me and he thought he was doing it right. It annoyed me to no end when he smirked and breathed his gross breath all over me.

Today was supposed to be a good day and the anxiety and excitement and nervousness just burst out and transformed into an almost nonsensical anger towards this poor stupid little boy. He was going to be my punching bag for the day. He had no idea that I was about to vent out a whole day of frustration, starting when the stupid English teacher called me out, on him.

Time to burst the bubble.

"One, you don't say sweet little thing unless your from, oh I don't know, Georgia? Two, you yourself are trying to obviously take advantage of me. Three, Forks happens to be the most non-threatening place on the planet Earth, and four, if there did happen to be any 'big bad people' around I doubt that you would be even physically capable of protecting me. Now I said I am not interested, which must mean that I AM NOT INTERESTED. Plus they gave me a map for a reason; they could obviously tell I wasn't a dumbass. Unlike you." Everybody who heard this outburst was either: a. impressed, b. snickering, or c. glaring at me.

One such glarer was Jessica.

"Hi! You're Isabella, right?" Bitch knew what she was doing by calling me Isabella rather than Bella. Either she knew she was gaining the upper hand in the conversation by not calling me by my preferred name, or she just did it to annoy me.

I vote for the latter.

The minute Jessica opened her thin overly-glossed lips, I knew exactly what she was.

Jess was once an outcast and had done everything she could to fit in with the crowd. She had the same look of anxiousness and self consciousness on her face as some of the other SHM club members I knew. That hunger to fit in and be liked.

But she was too much of a bitch for my sympathy.

"Bella, actually." I smiled a strained smile at her, just barely keeping myself from growling. Bring it on.

"Right. Isabella. Like I was saying, you're new here, right? And aren't you from Phoenix, like in Arizona?" I nodded. Yeah, who cares?

"Then why are you so like, pale? You're like a ghost and your skin has this almost bleached look to it," She tossed her thin, mousy-brown hair, "If I were you I'd be like, soo mad. Pale skin is like so last century and gross looking don't you think? I'd rather be tan." At that, she motioned to her spray tanned arms.

She had a point. I seriously think that I am part albino. I have grown up with the sun outside my window 24/7 for at least fifteen years and I was white as snow. But that didn't mean I didn't like my skin.

It just seemed like nobody else really liked it. Being pale just made me even more of a freak in Phoenix. But she didn't need to know that.

"Yeah I'm abnormally pale, don't you think?" The people closest looked on with interest, what would the new girl say to the veiled (well maybe it was completely obvious) insult?

Suckers, back up. You're about to see a master at work.

Jess was nodding and smirking all triumphantly. She obviously had no idea that she had messed with the cat and was getting the claws.

"Yeah I do think you're really pale. It's so gross." She smirked again, probably thinking that she was just the wittiest thing since Jesus Christ.

"Oh, I don't know about the gross part. I myself prefer to be _naturally _pale than to have a completely fake tan," I motioned to her "tan skin", "A complete waste of time really. Fake tanning that is. Where I am a normal pale color, you are a rather not normal orange. Actually you look like one of those fat Oompa Loompa things." I smiled at her.

"What do you mean fake? This is a real tan, which you would probably not know about." She sneered at me like I was supposed to be offended.

"Really, Jessica was it? You live in the Olympic Peninsula. That means you see very little sun in this town and a lot of rain. You obviously did not go on vacation anywhere, because if you did you would probably be bragging about it right now. That tan is orange like a tiger's fur and faker than the eyelashes you have glued on right now, oh and by the way, the glues kind of peeling off." I said this all in a very bored tone with a very bored expression because I happened to be very fucking bored.

Jessica did not know how to banter in the least. Really, I was expecting her to burst out with something like, "Yeah well your mom!" Actually if we could insult my mom in this conversation I'd enjoy myself.

But she did the next stupidest thing.

The idiot actually _reached up_ to see if her eyelash was falling off. Which proved that she was wearing fake eyelashes, which meant that her tan was also probably fake. Everyone who saw her tug experimentally at the eyelashes laughed out loud.

Jessica hissed a 'this isn't over yet' at me, turned around, and sat quite rigidly in her seat for the rest of her class. When the bell rang I was out the door and onto World History.

Thankfully, I didn't have a complete failure of a morning. My World History class was a lot of fun and I got to meet a really nice girl Angela. In my Math class, which is where the showdown with Mike and Jess happened, I met Tanya. Actually _she_ met _me_ after the class. Our conversation went like this:

The strawberry blonde girl walked up to me like she had known me forever.

"Hi Bella. It's nice to meet you, I'm Tanya. I happen to hate Jessica and Mike and I would very much appreciate you being my friend. You obviously are smarter than them and I enjoyed myself immensely when you put them in their place. We're friends now okay?" And she said it in such an offhand happy way that I couldn't help but like her straight away.

"Sure Tanya, we'll be friends if you give me some details about this place. Scandals, who to watch out for, what's the best bathroom to avoid, etc." We fell into an easy talk about Jessica who had a hopeless crush on Mike, Mike who fancied himself a player but who had never actually gotten a girl before, the teachers, the West Hall bathroom which was supposedly haunted, and about a very strange family named the Cullens.

"They're hard to explain, because nobody really knows them. They're all extremely beautiful, of course, but well… they keep to themselves I guess," she stared at me in a wondering kind of way, "They moved here from Alaska about two years ago and everyone was super hyped when they saw just how gorgeous they were. But they're kind of weird."

"Weird how?" Hopefully weird like me.

"Well there are five of them: Emmet, Rosalie, Jasper, Alice, and Edward. They were adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Cullen and they're, well, they're all _together_," she hurried to explain at my confused look.

"Emmet and Rosalie are an item. They have been together, couple wise, since they got here. Alice and Jasper are a couple too. Edward is the lonely one, I guess, but he sticks with his siblings and he hasn't really expressed any interest in the girls here." At that she ducked her head so I wouldn't see her blushing. He must have turned her down sometime.

"But yeah, they don't really talk to anyone or sit with anyone besides each other. I mean, they're as polite as can be but they give off a cold, almost distant air. They are what you would call 'not very approachable'." I digested all this during my next class when Tanya dashed off in a hurry to her World Lit. It was all very interesting, and weird enough I suppose.

But not nearly as weird as me.

And when I did manage to brush Tanya's hand I got no picture, no image of the beautiful unapproachable people. I just got a sense of hesitation, almost fear. But it was so subtle that I doubt she knew she felt it herself. It was an almost subconscious feeling.

Like how the prey feels instinctually towards the predator.

And another even weirder thought:

_Bella actually reminds me of them. Same pale skin, same beauty, same distant signal._

Huh.

Well that was nice of her to compare me in beauty to the beautiful people. I got a sense of extreme physical admiration for them, so that was a pretty big compliment in my book when she saw me as the same caliber in looks.

I myself thought I was a very plain girl. I was about five-four in height, I had wavy-ish thick brown hair that hung to just below my shoulders and refused to be straightened. My eyes were a boring brown color, like mud. I was skinny enough, I mean I didn't have any extra fat where I didn't want it, but I wasn't exactly Miss America.

I was forgettable, and I liked it that way.

So when little forgettable me walked into the cafeteria I was even more astonished by the fact that Tanya thought I looked like the Cullens.

There they sat, five inhumanly beautiful people sitting together in the corner of the room. They were eating their food in a slow kind of picky way, like vegetarians picking out the chicken in a salad. Two girls: one a blonde goddess who looked like she should have been on the Victoria Secret catalogs, the other a short pixie with spiky black hair and the lithe body of a dancer. She stood with a loping elegance that absolutely defied gravity as she went to throw out her half eaten apple.

There were three boys, all tall and muscular but each very different in his own way. One was bigger than that man mountain at the airport; he had a head of curly black hair and muscles galore. One was a little less muscular, but still ripped, and blonde; he sat with an almost effortless grace that I failed to even comprehend. But the third was the one who stole my breath away.

His hair was a strange coppery-brown color. Like a penny. He was tall, and not as muscular as the other two but I thought he was just right. His body looked strong and lean, exuding confidence and danger. Even from this distance I could see the smooth pink lips move languidly as he talked to his siblings. Seeing as the other two boys were holding the two girls, I surmised that he was Edward, the loner.

I had just sat down next to Tanya and Angela at the table when Edward's head whipped around and his eyes met mine across the room. He looked curious, amazed, and frustrated all at once. His cheeks had a healthy flush to them and I could see how green his eyes were, even from here. He stared and I stared and my eyesight just got clearer and clearer until I swore I could see the pulse in his neck from fifty feet away.

It was like those beautiful, captivating eyes were a foot away. I felt like I was looking through a magnifying glass. His perfect brow furrowed and he turned away. The spell was broken and suddenly, everything was back to normal. His features weren't as clear because I was seeing him from a distance again, instead of that weird up-close sight I just had.

Well who knows? Maybe I have supervision along with my freaky mind reading abilities.

One thing I was sure of was that Edward Cullen was quite beautiful and quite different. And when I turned to the worried faces of Tanya and Angela I was sure that his type of different was deadly.

How very right I was.

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See how fast I can update? 3 days and 2 chapters!! Now if people would just REVIEW I could update even FASTER and write even LONGER chapters!! Now wouldn't that be just great? Don't you think?

**Okay, I KNOW you are confused. Are the Cullens vampires? Why does Edward have green eyes? Well guess what?**

**All the answers are on my profile page, but I'll be nice and just anwer them here:**

**The Cullens aren't vampires. But they are also not human. Trust me I have som VERY TWISTY twists planned for this story. I've got an outline and everything so don't worry, I'm not winging it. Everything that happens in this story happens for a reason**

**Except for the alarm clock. LOL, I just typed out how creepy it was and now I'm attached. Still trying to figure out its history and purpose in this story but the alarm clock stays. I love it. Oh and I'll be posting a picture of it and all the creepy three minute things it plays on my profile.**

Well I won't know until you press the little button down there because you want to make me better and you love this story. You know you do. Sadly, I won't know of your love until you decide to leave me a little note. I am aiming for at least 5 reviews! Is that too much to ask for? The first to review gets their name put in my story and becomes immortalized as a character.

Yes. I am not above bribery.

But thank you for reading and please please REVIEW.


	6. Run Little Girl, Run

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all btw. besides the story line.

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I could die right now, I really could.

Of embarrassment, that is.

One, my friends were looking at me with an expression that was concerned and amused all at once (how that is possible I will never know). Two, I was caught staring at the most beautiful boy I had ever seen and he had stared back in a somewhat exasperated way, and three, I couldn't help but steal a glance at him every now and then for a short amount of time.

Meaning that my first lunch at Forks High School was spent staring across the cafeteria at a stranger and occasionally remembering to eat. Seriously. And I think he knew that I was staring too, if the slight twitch of his head in my direction was anything to go by.

There is nothing more embarrassing then staring at someone and getting caught and then having your cheeks flare up because you _know _you were caught and then turning to see your friends either smirking or looking weirded out. Like in a "why would you even ever consider staring at that person for any reason other than that they were just mind boggling in their freakiness?" kind of way. Oh he was beyond beautiful all right, he was a fucking fallen angel actually, but that didn't mean he wasn't weird.

And as I hope I have mentioned people in general do not like anything that is even remotely weird.

So yeah. Angela and Tanya kept laughing at me because I couldn't seem to stop staring at Edward Cullen while at the same time giving me the look. You know that look, the one that people give you when you're insane.

"Bella! How many times do you need to look at him?" was Tanya's exasperated reply when I was caught, for about the millionth time, staring across the room at Edward. I blushed, again, and she just sighed. She'd been sighing almost as much as I'd been blushing in the past twenty minutes.

"Um, well I'm not just looking at him specifically; I'm looking at all of them." Which was partially true; I did glance at the others. A few times. Maybe.

Maybe not.

But this kid was just so inhumanly beautiful and for some weird reason I felt like I just _couldn't _stop staring. It was like this magnetic force calling me to him and I couldn't just get up and walk over and plop down in his lap (which was what I wanted to do. What can I say? He was super hot.) Since I didn't want to become a complete social pariah my first day here I decided to keep my distance.

But a little staring wasn't going to hurt anyone was it?

I don't even know what was so captivating. I _was_ looking at his eyelashes curling on his cheeks, and the warm tone of his skin, and the soft, _soft_ lips. I was looking at the straight sloping nose, and the defined cheekbones, and the beautiful penny colored hair hanging and curling deliciously over his forehead. And I was looking at his curved profile, an animal waiting to spring, his tense arms and the absolutely delicious muscles and I was thinking about how that little spot where his perfect jaw met his perfect ear was perfectly lickable.

But beyond all of the _looking_, what I was _seeing_ was so much more intriguing.

I saw how he leaned away and towards his siblings at the same time, how he seemed to sit at the head of the table even though it was circular. I saw how they all looked at him, with a sort of respect that just baffled me. It was like Edward was the king and they were his presiding court. The way his posture empathized his comfort in their presence, yet at the same time marked how…apart… he was from them was strange.

His back was curved forward, elbows on the table, head down. One foot was outstretched, the other resting directly on the floor. But he wasn't leaning forward even though he was curved forward. He wasn't engaging in conversation, his brow puckered, his eyes unfocused; I was sure that he was at once far away and closer than I could ever comprehend.

And the fact that I could observe all this perfectly from fifty feet away was pretty interesting too.

I saw how the light seemed to set his bronze locks on fire, how the long eyelashes left shadows on his cheekbones. I could see the lines around his eyes, the lines that weren't in the skin but in his expression. And I didn't find this weird in any way at all. I had learned early on in life to take things as they were thrown at me: it was much easier to catch a curve ball if you just got over the fact that it was unexpected and went and caught the damn thing.

_Not_ that I would ever be able to catch a curve ball, or any ball, ever. Lack of hand-eye coordination and equilibrium came with the klutz package.

But this boy seemed so alone at the table of beautiful people. I could see the blonde one nudge the man mountain playfully and then whisper something in his ear that made him smile. I could see how the tiny pixie girl hopped around in her seat as she chatted somewhat nonsensically to the mute Edward, and how the blonde man on her right placed a soothing hand on her shoulder which actually seemed to calm her down.

And then the pixie girl looked at me.

Now if I hadn't diverted my attention from Edward at that precise moment, or if I had even blinked, I would have missed it. But that little blur of black had blurred in my direction and the lightning blue eyes had met my own for about a millisecond before she turned back around.

And with my super freaky magni-vision I could see even more.

The expression on her face was the same as Edward's had been when we locked gazes. It was amazed and frustrated. Looking at me in a mix of bewilderment and frustration. What was it with these people?

But before I could even delve further or take a bite from my completely intact lunch, the bell rang. Jeez time goes by fast when you're not paying attention.

Well not paying attention to what you're _supposed _to be doing anyway.

I stole a last glance at the breathtaking strange family before I got up to leave. But they were already gone.

"Earth to Bella?" I jumped at the voice which was directly in my ear. Tanya was staring at me all worried again. I just smiled and shrugged her off with a wave and an 'I'll see ya after school,' before looking at my schedule. Biology, Banner, Room B3.

B, B, B haha. What a lovely place to B. Get it?

I am so lame sometimes.

I scurried down the brown tile hallways as I tried to maneuver my way to the right room. I had about thirty seconds left to actually get inside before the bell rang when I came skidding to a halt in front of B3. Biology, Banner.

That is never going to get old, I can tell you now.

So with a big smile I walked into the room. That had to be the first time that day. A man in his thirties with a plain brown suit and a Tabasco sauce tie (don't ask) greeted me at the front.

"Isabella Swan?" I nodded, reverting back to my shy self at the stares of the class.

"Bella, actually," My cheeks flared up like fireworks. The gracious man could see my discomfort and made himself my favorite teacher ever by nodding at me and not asking any questions.

What was the point? In a school this small there was no mistake as to who the new girl was. Especially if she was the daughter of the Chief of Police.

"Well we only have one seat left. You can sit back there, next to Mr. Cullen," my head snapped up at the name hoping against hope that it wasn't who I thought it was. And then it was all I could do from keeping my jaw dropping.

There he was, in all his beautiful glory, was sitting at my table. And I couldn't help but think _shit._

I didn't have anything against the guy, I mean he was the hottest thing invented since fire, but I was really, really worried that me sitting next to him would embarrass me.

I mean, my brain will not be able to function properly while in close proximity to that kind of gorgeous, and maybe the weird Cullen was more normal than me. Maybe the weird, beautiful Edward Cullen had enough weirdness in his life without me trying to be a part of it.

And the strange part of it all was how much I wanted to be a part of his life.

Don't get me wrong, I have had my crushes just like any girl, but I always found that the chase was the most interesting part of the whole infatuation. I knew, deep down, that if I found myself in a situation where my crush actually liked me _back_, I would probably lose interest. But with Edward it was different. I hadn't even spoken a word to him and I already wanted him to like me.

Like that one song- "I want you…to want me!" Can't go wrong with Cheap Trick.

But really, I did not want to sit next to this hunk of man meat and make a complete fool of myself. He really didn't make my whole 'I want to fit in' agenda any easier. And then there was the fact that he was sort of glaring at me and looking all curious at the same time. Like I was a question and he just couldn't find the answer.

Once again, what the hell?

But I knew that whether I wanted to or not, I was going to be partnered up with him so I might as well get over it. I took the first step towards the table, and the air vent behind me blew my hair forward so that it obscured my vision of him, and then my hair was falling back into place and I was looking at Edward again.

That's when it happened.

Edward went completely rigid, like a marble statue, and the curious anger towards me turned into a blazing fire of emotion. I saw how his pupils contracted until they were almost slitted like a cats, how the hands gripped the edge of the table so tightly that I could actually see the wood creak under the pressure. How his nostrils flared and his eyes flashed and then he was leaning forwards and away simultaneously, like the only thing he ever wanted was to get as close or as far away as he could.

And it all took a second. Nobody else seemed to notice Edward's odd behavior, Mr. Banner had already started lecturing about something. And I was walking slowly, cautiously towards the table. Something deep down knew that this was wrong, that Edward was wrong, and that getting too close to him could be fatal. But I consoled myself, he was just odd, maybe he was acting like this because he really didn't want to sit next to me. I just shook it off, because despite the fear, I still had that magnetic attraction to him, pulling me closer and closer, almost against my will, until I was seated right next to him.

He heard the scrape of my chair as I sat and he leaned away, almost toppling headlong into the aisle. We were at the back of the room and everyone was too busy taking notes or flirting with their desk partner to take notice of our little drama.

Edward was sitting ramrod straight and his hands were still gripping the table like his life depended on it. I stared at him, willing him to turn and meet my gaze, but he refused to even acknowledge my presence. I didn't hear a single word that Mr. Banner said those thirty minutes because I was too focused on the boy beside me. And then my curiosity and my fear and my attraction were morphing into something else positively dangerous as he ignored me.

I was absolutely pissed. What right did he have to treat me like this? Like I was a piece of dirt on the bottom his shoe. Renee used to ignore me just like that and the reminder of the bitch just made me even angrier.

By the time the bell rang, signaling the end of Biology with Banner in B3, I was ready to find myself a gun and shoot some sense into my desk-buddy. And as he got up stiffly, yet swiftly, I grabbed his arm. Because behind all the anger there was sadness and rejection. I usually avoided physical contact but I just _had_ to know why he was acting the way he was acting.

The minute I touched his skin a cacophony of noise and jumbled thoughts rammed into my mind.

_So sweet, so red… blood dripping down her smooth white throat. You want it you know you do, and think of the secrets she can unlock in your mind. You want the truth, the answers, and her sweet luscious blood. It would be easy, it would, and it would be worth it, you know it would._

All of this was said in his mind by a malicious voice, I could hear the words as they slithered into my mind, slowly and achingly dangerous. If the devil had a voice, he was speaking to Edward right now. The cold intent and the cruel, absolutely mad desire of the voice pounded my senses until I, too, was near insanity. But another voice was screaming inside him.

_You can't. Carlisle, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, Alice, Esme. They all look up to you, they all adore you, the golden boy. You're supposed to be better than this. Resist, resist her. Hate her instead. It will be hard but it will save her, and you. Don't prove _him_ right, don't give in. Be strong. Resist._

It was a chant, a mantra in his mind. _Resist, resist, resist._ Images of me, following him outside, him luring me into the shadows. Smiling down at me and his teeth plunging into my throat as he drank my blood. Then images of the four I had seen with him at lunch, of a beautiful man and woman with kind, golden eyes were staring at me. And a flash of darkness, despair as a pair of red bloody eyes invaded my mind.

And then I let go.

Edward was staring at me, emotions flashing across his face: disgust, desire, hatred, longing. And a small voice was breaking over my own mind, urging me to listen to it. A constant phrase of self preservation, the voice of my need to live.

_Run little girl, run._

So I did.

I turned and ran out of that room as fast as I could, which was surprisingly fast. My terror had triggered a fount of adrenaline that pumped into my limbs as I dashed down a deserted hall and out into the back parking lot. I didn't think, I just ran. I needed to get as far away from him as I could. I was in the forest, bypassing trees, pushing back the branches. My hair was caught, my clothes torn, my skin cut and bloody. And seeing that blood reminded me of the vision I had of Edward slicing my neck, snarling as the hot red liquid rushed into his mouth.

And I ran harder. Little did I know that running was the worst choice I could have made.

Edward was the predator, and I was the prey, I could feel it in his thoughts. By running, I had caused his instincts haywire, and he set into hunting mode.

I had just made it into a sort of clearing when I heard a soft velvety chuckle to my right.

"Where do you think you're going?" I stopped dead in my tracks and turned, breathing hard, to the source of the noise. There, in the shadow of the trees, was the boy.

He smiled at me, encouragingly, and despite the fact that I knew what he would do to me if I got close, I moved. Not away, towards.

His beauty drew me in, he was the fisher and I was the stupid little fish, being reeled in expertly by a shiny hook.

I went into a sort of daze. Why was I running again? He was an angel surely, only angels looked like that, and an angel wouldn't hurt me. So I moved closer and closer until I was in the circle of his arm. Looking into his beautiful green eyes-

Skin to skin.

My brain came back to me at the murderous intent I could see in his eyes. And in his mind.

_Kill, drink, take, remember. No, Carlisle. Don't take. Resist her blood. Resist the singer._

He was battling his desires and I could admire him for that. I could tell how badly he wanted to kill me. And that was when inspiration hit.

"Edward," I cooed, "I know what you want." He stared at me, probably thinking I would say something ridiculous about sex. Although that would have been nice.

You know, if he wasn't intent on killing me.

"You want my blood don't you? The singer's blood? You want to drink it and you want to unlock the secrets of your mind and remember. But don't forget your family. Don't forget Carlisle and Esme, Emmet, Rosalie, Alice and Jasper. Do you want to prove _him _right? Are you really going to kill me?" My statements had the desired effect. Edward's eyes had widened with each word. I could feel the amazement and disbelief at my knowledge radiating off of him.

_What? Who is this girl? How does she know all of this, how does she know what I want to…_

And the shock of my unexpected understanding of what he wanted seemed to pull him out of the insanity that he had almost given in to. He had expected to daze me, pull me close, see my sense of ignorance and small primal fear before he drank me. But I had known what he wanted, what he was to an extent. I knew of his desire and his guilt and his struggle because I could see into his mind.

But he didn't know that.

I had only stated the things I had heard in his mind, but it seemed to bring him to his senses.

_What is she thinking? I can't hear her. Alice can't see her. What is this girl?_

And before I could decipher the strange thought he had let go of me, his eyes wide with horror, shame, realization, and sanity. He turned and fled.

And then I was alone.

I was bloody and I was cold. The air was thick with tension and moisture as I sat on the ground. But I wasn't crying, I wasn't in shock. I was just sitting there and well… thinking.

What had he meant? I can't hear her? Alice can't see her? He could obviously hear me fine if his reaction to my words was anything to go by. And I was sure that I was a very visible person.

And who was this mysterious person that Edward wanted to prove wrong? Why would drinking my blood unlock the secrets of his mind? What was a singer?

And more importantly, what was Edward?

Vampire was the term that came instantly to my mind. Drinking blood, outrageously beautiful, super fast and strong. But weren't vampires the living dead? And Edward was so much alive. I had felt his pulse under my fingertips, had seen the flush in his cheeks from running.

And another thing, how the hell had I gotten to this clearing so fast?

The last few minutes were somewhat hazy but I knew that it had only been a short amount of time. Miraculously, my cell phone was still in my pocket and with a glance at the clock I could see that it was only 2:15. Banner's class had ended at 2:13, I was sure of it, but I couldn't have possibly run this far in two minutes.

Maybe I was just going crazy.

I was in a right sour mood.

Then I noticed my surroundings.

I was in a clear, sunlit meadow. There were bunches of wildflowers and a stream was making a happy little tricking sound nearby. It's gurgling pulled me out if my stupor and the birds were starting to twitter again. I could see the sun, high in the sky, and a baby blue horizon fanned out like the dome of a giant building above me. I laid back and smelled the sweet fresh scent of nature as the soft grass enveloped me in a sense of security.

After admiring the beauty of my surroundings for a few minutes, I sat up and straightened. One last look around before I trudged into the dark forest. I walked and thought and thought and walked until I was thoroughly fed up with any type of walking or thinking. The fractured gold-green light was blocked out by the thicker trees and I knew I was getting somewhere when I saw the white flash of sunlight nearby. I hurried my aching legs and glanced down at my phone which had told me it had been an hour.

I stumbled out into an empty parking lot. The horrible rusty smell of my blood was beginning to make me woozy so I rushed over to the front of the school. Smithers sat at the very end of the parking lot, and I stumbled my way over. Sitting there, miraculously, was my bag. Tied to the strap was a note in elegant writing.

_Sorry._

I was almost positive that Edward had left it there.

So I pulled out my keys, unlocked the door, and moseyed my way behind the wheel. In no time I was driving through town and pulling into the driveway. I ran to the door, unlocked it, and set my bag on the counter. Thankfully, nobody was home to see my poor state, so I ran upstairs to shower and treat my cuts. I washed away the dirt and the blood and the memories of the day. I came back down, my body refreshed. But my mind was still racing with questions to which I knew no answer.

When Charlie came back he made no comments on the many cuts along my arms, probably thinking I had done it in P.E. When he asked how school had been, I replied with a mumbled good and ran upstairs. Then I was asleep, restlessly tossing and turning.

My sleep was not dreamless that night.

It was the first night I dreamed of Edward Cullen.

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If you like it review, REVIEW, REVIEW. I appreciate every single comment I find. And thanks to everyone who did review! I was hoping for 5 and I got 8!! This chapter is dedicated to all of you. And if you didn't already know it, Edward is not a vampire nor is he human.


	7. Premonitionary Blank Spot

Disclaimer: I am not SM. I am a random chick who has an unhealthy obsession for TwiFics.

Don't judge. I bet you're all a lot like me.

Thanks to all who reviewed, read, etc. This chapter goes out to you.

Enjoy!

* * *

"_2 AM and she calls me 'cause I'm still awake. Can you help me unravel my latest mistake. I don't love him, winter just wasn't my season."_

_Gah._

I woke up at the normal six to the sound of Anna Nalick crooning to me from the red, chicken-faced clock in the corner of my room. I don't even get how that works the fuck out. I mean have you ever had the equivalent of a rooster sing to you about the tragedies of life and love?

I doubt it.

So yeah, Anna Nalick? Check. Red clock with evil eyed rooster pulling me from my slumbers at six AM? Check. Queasy, something is going to happen today feeling in my stomach? Double check.

Fucking dandy.

By the time I hauled some ass out of bed the clock read 6:03 and my morning serenade was artfully cut off:

"_And I feel like I'm naked in fron-' _–t of the crowd. Cause these words on my diary screaming out loud. And I know that you'll use them however you want to." I mumbled the finish of the phrase in a routine little morning ditty while I stared at the clock.

What's that supposed to mean?

Okay, I have begun to realize that my clock can set the mood of the day by the songs it plays. So every morning song ends up being my guide for the day. Let's take yesterday for instance.

I woke up to the sound of "I always feel like somebody's watching me." You know, that song from the Geico commercials? And what happened yesterday?

I had the weirdest sense that I was being continually watched. But we'll get back to that later. So yeah. Breathe by Anna Nalick? What the fuck. I guess I'll figure it out eventually. But in the mean time…

Today had better fucking not be boring. You know why?

Because everyday for the past two weeks has been boring in some way or another. You know, ever since I was almost killed by a vampire in the woods. And then started dreaming about said vampire. Except not in a nightmare context.

More in a 'what the hell is this shit supposed to mean?' kind of doped up on shrooms sort of way.

Because, yeah, those dreams made absolutely no sense whatsoever. And it freaked the living hell out of me.

There were two recurring dreams that concerned Eddie boy.

In one, I saw a woman dancing in and out of the moonlight on balletic feet. She looked like a fairy princess. And on the edge of the moonlight were two dark- red, glowing eyes. They stared at the woman hungrily; they watched her as she swayed in the moonlight and then drifted into the shadows and then back. I never saw a body connected to those two droplets of ruby, just the eyes themselves as the pupil and the iris danced along after the woman like they wished they had teeth to sink into her pretty skin.

And the eyes would widen when she went into the darkness, then narrow as she walked back into the moonlight. And I could never see the woman's face; her back was always turned to me. After a few minutes of her dance, a little lonesome, bronze-haired boy would appear in the moonlight next to her. His green eyes followed her movements, just like the red eyes, but he never left the safety of the light. The green eyed boy stayed in the moonshine, and the bloodied eyes never left the darkness that shrouded them.

And always the woman, faceless and nameless, danced in and out of the silver pools.

And every time I woke up, I felt like I _knew_ something that I shouldn't. Like I knew who the woman was and why she danced and who the ruby eyes belonged to. But then that feeling faded and all I could see is the green-eyed boy.

Edward.

My other dream was just as mysterious.

There was another woman. She ran through a dark forest, a wolf loping alongside her. Every now and then she would look behind her, a terrified expression on her pale face. She would run and run away from something, and the fearsome creature ran beside her. Neither tired. Then, suddenly, a short muffled scream could be heard in the darkness behind them.

And the world seemed to shiver.

After the echo of the scream whispered away, woman and wolf would break free of the forest. A half moon looked down on them, and both would stop dead, then look up at the moon in wonder. Its light illuminated their worshipful faces and they bowed to it in all its glory. As woman and wolf bent to the ground, dazed by the dangerous beauty, a figure crept up behind them.

The woman and wolf would hear a twig crack behind them, and both would whirl to face the figure. Wolf bared its teeth, and woman looked around wildly for a way to escape.

In the distance was the ocean.

She jumped on the wolf's back and they raced to the water's edge. The figure followed them, chasing across sand and shell. Just before it reached them, they jumped into the water.

An empty ocean beckoning to them.

They disappeared into the cool black blue. The light of the moon on the surface, shattering into a million pieces that tried to jaggedly reform. The figure on the beach threw back its head and howled into the night. An inhuman sound clawed out of its throat as the moon fell and a blinding light, brighter than that of the sun, inherited the land and illuminated its features.

Green eyes, bronze eyes. That's all I ever saw before I woke in a sweat.

Edward.

And I'd wake up with the feeling that I knew what had happened, why it had happened. I woke up like I understood, but always, always…

I would forget.

And I would get even more frustrated than I already was. So for the past two weeks my frustration levels were on an all-time high. There were a few reasons. All of which had to do with Edward.

One- the dreams. What the hell were they even about? Did they mean something? Why in all fucking fuck did I have to have them repeatedly? Everyone knows that having repetitive dreams is a big bad mental-patient kind of thing. And I don't want to be a mental patient. Or any more than I already am.

Two- why the fuck does this shit always happen me? Why? Was I a really bad person, I don't know, like _Hitler_ in a previous life? Was I? Because only someone that bad would be deserving of the fucked-uppedness that is my life.

Three- Edward. Or Eduardo as I'd come to call him. Eduardo had left school and seemingly town for two weeks now. The last time I saw him was when he almost killed me. You know the type, gloriously hot, follow you into the forest, want to suck your blood. But Jesus-waffle-making-Christ! This guy was an 11 on the 1-10 scale of weirdness! I mean, yeah he's a vampire. I figure that or he's a psycho who thinks he's a vampire.

But hey, we've all got problems, right?

I mean, I know that I should be having a panic attack every time I think of him. I know that by now, any normal person would have booked a plane to fucking Timbuktu if they knew what I know.

But I'm not normal.

So instead of losing my shit over this guy and avoiding him like the plague (gotta love clichés), I was looking for him at lunch, in the hallways. I was rushing into Banner Biology B3, hoping to see him sitting at our table. I'd even gotten around to asking about the family for fuck's sake!

But sadly, there was no Eduardo for the past two weeks.

So yeah. Back to the whole waking up to "Breathe" thing. Oh, and the whole I was being watched thing.

Edward's siblings were following me. I was sure of it.

I'd gotten around to figuring out which was which by asking around school. And I'd realized that something about them was very very off. I'd be talking to Tanya or Angela at lunch and I'd get that weird vibe. And I'd turn and see just the hint of a blur. And there, sitting all innocently were the four Cullens.

Emmet the man mountain, Rosalie the blonde goddess, Alice the pixie chick, and Jasper the brooding sullen supermodel.

Each time this happened the four would follow a routine. They would pick at their food silently, take a few bites, and then attempt at a nonchalant conversation.

In which Alice would talk, Emmet would not, Jasper would pout, and Rosalie would glare at the table like she wished she could pick it up and throw it at some unsuspecting person. And when I would stop watching them, my newly acquired spidey-senses would hear the lull in conversation, the soft whisper of turning heads. And I would turn.

And the routine would start all over again. I swear I was getting a crick in my neck.

Every single lunch for the past two weeks was spent in this way. Angela and Tanya had stopped asking about my continued obsession with the Cullens and just accepted it with shrugs. They answered my questions about the family, they ignored my constant looks toward their lunch table.

And we would all part ways after lunch.

That's when it got interesting.

After Biology class, during which I sat like a loner in the back, I would go reluctantly to P.E. Alice and Rosalie also had this class with me. The two were surprisingly athletic, they could run miles without breaking a sweat, they could catch and bat and throw a dodge ball accurately with relative ease. And I always got the feeling that they weren't even trying.

Like they could probably put a hole in my head if they chose to.

Well at least Rosalie always gave me that particular impression. Whenever I saw her looking at me, she was less looking and more glaring in my general direction. Her body would tense and her eyes would blaze defiantly. Like the icy blues had been set on fire. Then Alice would nudge her, she'd give me a last venomous look, and turn stiffly away.

Girl was a fucking basilisk. I swear, if looks could kill…

Alice on the other hand, was a very happy excitable person. Whenever she met my questioning gaze, she match it curiously, cock her head to the side like she was contemplating my very existence, and narrow her eyes. In a non-threatening way, mind. The way Alice looked at me reminded me of a scientist or a mathematician staring at a problem that they couldn't understand or figure out. She had just the right looks of curiosity, frustration, and general amazement whenever we happened to lock eyes.

I really wasn't able to figure it out.

And when the hell that is P.E. was over, every single time I freaking swear, they would walk about ten steps behind me. Whenever I turned around, they were just standing there talking to each other casually.

Yeah, hun. You don't fool me for a minute.

So by the time I got to my car, I had a full case of some serious heebie-jeebies. And the two weirdos would meet up with their boy toys by a big black shiny jeep. And all four of them would just stare at me until I pulled out of the parking lot.

It. Was. Fucking. Creepy.

My musings occupied my mind as I got dressed. I grabbed my bag, threw in my iPod, and ambled unassumingly towards the door. And the stairs.

You would think that I had learned by now.

Once again, I tripped, stepped on thin air, and went catapulting down the stairs. This was becoming a ritual thing. Every time my mind was occupied, or I wasn't paying attention, I fell down the stairs.

Every. Single. Time.

Well that woke me up nicely.

So I got myself some cereal and dragged my bruised and pissed off self towards Smithers. I got into the car, started the engine and guided my limping vehicle towards the school. For s Hi S hool.

Hello Shool.

I pulled into the parking lot, pulled up my hood, and scrolled through my iPod. I was walking towards the front door in an unsuspecting manner, head down, when I was slammed to the ground by a pile of bricks.

A human pile of bricks.

I caught the very edge of a thought as I went down, tasting metal and anger.

_It's all her fault. Stupid Edward, stupid human. _She's_ the reason he's not here. Stupid, ugly, unassuming bitch._

I looked up in a fury. Ready to punch a hole through the head that was thinking these vulgar, vile thoughts. They were too Renee for my liking.

And met the gaze of two icicles. On fire in their own fury.

Rosalie.

The blonde girl was standing over me, glaring. Her hatred bored into me. The rain fell on my face, the wind whipped through her hair, and slowly, so very slowly, she smirked. The sad, befuddled feelings inside me morphed.

Really. WHAT THE FUCK.

I was fucking tired of people following me, whispering about me, glaring at me, for no apparent reason. I had fallen down the stairs, the dreams were confusing the living hell out of me, I was just trying to fit in, and the most beautiful boy in the world wanted to kill me. Everything was weirder here in Forks and everything was supposed to be getting better but it WASN'T.

My absolute frustration and anger and hostility towards everything and everyone in the freaking Cullen family was at a breaking point as I stood up and brushed the rain off my coat. Rosalie was about three inches taller than me but I really didn't care. If we got in a fight then I would at least be able to hopefully bruise that perfect cruel face of hers.

I'm sure my intentions were clear as I looked into her eyes because she looked pleased. Like she was looking forward to hurting me.

The feeling is fucking mutual bitch.

But before I could even lay a hand on her that stupid fucking alarm clock was popping up in my mind. And that stupid fucking lullaby-like song was playing and I was listening to the words and my conscience. Because my thoughts on what I want to do and what I should do have the worst fucking timing in the whole damn world.

"_Breathe, just breathe." C'mon Bella! Don't sink down to her level._

Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up…

_You can catch her off guard though. Just reach up, make contact, talk at her. Don't let her go and find out what the hell is going on._

Now that idea I liked.

I picked up my hand as if to smack her, but instead I grabbed her shoulder. Rosalie looked at me in a confused way.

_What the hell? I can't hit her if she doesn't start it! Stupid girl! Hit me! We'll see how much you like it when you beg for mercy._

I smiled at her.

"So, Rosalie. I'm not going to hit you because I know you want me to. Oh and why the hell do you keep calling me a stupid _human_? Are you not a human or something? Maybe you're a…vampire?" She was shocked, stunned, amazed, etc. Her eyes widened comically and her mouth gaped like a fish. But instead of gloating over the fact that I had stunned her quite effectually, I concentrated on her thoughts.

_What is she? What does she know? She's a danger to my family, to me. Edward can't hear her, Alice can't see her, Edward told us that she was fast. Faster than any normal human. What else can she do?_

"Oh, poor little naïve Rosalie. I can do a lot of things. Tell that to your dear brother the next time you see him. Where is he anyway?" Rose was in a stupor. I could probably ask her any question and she'd answer me truthfully in her mind.

_Alaska. He doesn't want to hurt her._

What? Well that's nice of him I guess.

"Where in Alaska?"

_Denali clan… Have to tell Edward… what's going on? How does she know? _

I saw a little cabin in the woods before Rosalie finally came to. Her eyes lost their dazed, unfocused look and narrowed suspiciously. She ripped away from me. But before she went I could almost taste her fear.

What of? I had no idea. But I planned on using it.

"How…how do you know so much? What are you?" she was hesitant, wary of me. I could see it in her eyes.

"Me? Why I'm just a stupid little human. But if you _ever_ mess with me again, you might find yourself in a little predicament." I stepped closer, she stepped back.

"I can learn all of your secrets in the blink of an eye. I can endanger your family, I can find Edward. I know what he wants from me. I know that he wants to kill me. And I know that he wants my blood." At this I smiled condescendingly.

"And I can know so much more. Leave me alone. Tell your stupid little _coven_-" I spit out the word that she used to relate to her family, "that I'm watching and waiting. Stop following me and talking about me. I'm not stupid and I am _sick_ and _tired_ of being a fucking weirdo." My voice dropped menacingly.

"And if any of you single me out, if any of you attract any unwanted attention to me, there will be fucking hell to pay. Got it?" I stared her down threateningly. My outburst was enough to make her back up a few paces and curl her body slightly inwards, protectively. She attempted a sneer of indifference but failed miserably before she turned and ran.

Even though she attempted to look like she was walking away in a dignified manner. In a fast jogging sort of way.

I smiled to myself. Hopefully she would pass the message along.

The whole episode had taken about five minutes, so I ran inside. The clock said I had an extra ten minutes to get all my shit together and make my way to class. So I ran to first period and sat in the back, hood up, earphones in, listening to Paramore for the remainder.

The day progressed normally until lunch. Jessica tried to be witty in her constant attacks on my pale skin. And my wardrobe. And my hair. She had no originality whatsoever, so she just ended up making herself look like a complete dunce whenever I didn't respond. Nice way to dig yourself a deeper hole.

Mike was slightly bipolar, one minute joining Jess in a pathetic attempt to insult me, the next minute he was leaning towards me, again, and trying to talk mw into going out with him, again. Tanya and Angela talked with me, laughed with me, took my mind off of things. Tanya and I would antagonize Angela over infatuation with Ben Cheney, Angela and I would antagonize Tanya over _her_ infatuation with a certain Garret, and Angela and Tanya would tease me endlessly about Edward.

"Oh, you _so _like him Bella. I remember when you first saw him," Tanya giggled, "your eyes went as wide as saucers and you just stared at him for about a half hour." I blushed, at which Angela would join in.

"And the blush!" she went on, pointing at the said curse, "You went a shade of red that I'd never even seen before!" I laughed along with them, shakily. Because yeah, I did like Edward.

But it was more wrong than either of them could know.

I had to admit to myself that my fascination with someone who wanted to kill me was unhealthy. I should have been scared, terrified, but no. Every time I got bored or started daydreaming, I would see his green eyes, his wind-blown bronze hair, his perfectly delicious body that had held me close in the forest. Those strong arms that had encircled my waist and that luscious mouth that was in the process of sucking me dry, and-

There I go again.

But yeah. Edward Cullen? Hotness factor at an all-time high? Me not being able to grasp any sense of self-preservation or normality?

Those, my friends, were the ingredients of disaster.

When we finally sat down at our customary table in the cafeteria, I was scanning the room for the Cullens. They weren't there yet. Twenty-five minutes later I was still looking.

They didn't show up.

Huh. Weird.

I went to Biology, Edward wasn't there as usual. I sat down and listened and dozed until the bell rang. Then I went to P.E.

Alice and Rosalie were nowhere to be seen. Huh. Weird.

I stumbled my way through a game of volleyball, managing to somehow hit myself in the back of the head with the volleyball while serving, and being generally avoided from that point on. When P.E. came to an end, I changed, grabbed my shit, and booked it out into the back parking lot. It was always easier to go that way then to have to walk through the school and bump into a bunch of hyped-up sophomores.

Bad idea.

I was sorting through my bag to check that I had everything when I heard a footfall behind me. I turned.

And came face to face with a cloth. Which was then promptly put to my face.

Now, I've heard that when someone sticks a suspicious looking cloth to your face, don't breathe. But breathe I did.

Everything went sort of hazy, colors mixed and voices were I could see were a pair of lightning eyes above me. Three figures stood behind the pixie thing, and then blackness engulfed me. I drifted off to the sound of a sweet little voice ringing itself through my mind.

_Premonitionary Blank Spot? Check. Time to figure this chick the hell out._

Touché.

* * *

Ah. A new chapter full of woe and fucked-uppedness. Chicken alarm clocks that sing for three minutes straight and have crystal ball abilites go to everyone who reviews!

Cullens kdnapping Bella? Whaaat? Eduardo might pop up next chapter. We'll just have to see. Totes Rose is a bitch. Tell me if you agree.

SEE YA SUCKAS!!!


	8. Down the Rabbit Hole

Are you ready for this awesomeness????

Disclaimer: I am not SM if you have not already figured it out. I own nothing but this plot and my own soul. Which I would gladly sell to actually meet Edward himself.

Who wouldn't?

Good luck with this. I hope you enjoy insanity.

* * *

I've died. I'm sure of it.

Why?

Well I'm in the fucking tunnel and there's a light at the end of it. And I'm trying to well, not go into the light. But it's not exactly working. I think.

Well ok. I don't know whether or not I'm in a tunnel, it just happens to be really fucking dark and that light is pretty darn close and really bright. Like there was a little sun sitting in the room and someone decided to shove it in my face. Or up my ass. Who knows?

But yeah, light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. And my whole 'don't go into the light' attempt isn't really working. Because I'm not getting any farther from the light.

But I'm not really getting any closer to it either.

Which, in a weird way, kind of pisses me off. Apparently I'm too deficient to even go _into_ the fucking light or back away from it. So, like an ass, I'm just going to sit in this chair and wait for the light to come to _me_.

Wait a second. Are there chairs in the afterlife?

Because I'm sitting on something and I'm pretty sure it's a chair.

When I realized this completely trivial fact, I actually moved my head away from the blinding brightness ahead. Bright like the fires of hell, like the headlamp of an oncoming train, like the light of a nuclear bomb right after it explodes.

Or maybe like the light of an ordinary little light bulb. That works too.

So I was staring at a light bulb. I looked around and found that no, I wasn't in a tunnel, I was just in a really dark room. Like batcave dark. And the fucking batcave had itself only a chair and a bare table for décor. I was in the chair. The table was on the floor.

Just want you to be able to imagine the brilliance of this room clearly.

So yeah. Chair, table, light bulb, me being alive and not in the fires of hell or a supernatural tunnel, and a door. A door with a big, brassy knob that was turning ever so slowly. And then the door was opening slowly also, creaking the entire way. I could almost hear the screeching violins in the background.

Please don't let it be a serial killer. Or a rapist. Or a sociopath. Or anyone with any kind of mental instability whatsoever.

And in walked Tinker Bell.

Well fucking great. I'm in Neverland or whatever-the-fuck-that-place-where-people-don't-grow-up-and-crocodiles-swallow-clocks is called. M'kay Tink, where the fuck are Peter Pansy and Mr. I've got a Hook-up-my-ass?

Tink had black spiky hair instead of that blondish hair you always see on Disney. But, then again, could I expect any less? If there's one lesson I learned in my childhood (In which I lost any semblance of the saying 'happily ever after' replacing it with the Romeo/Juliet version, which I liked better: and together, they died a tragic death) it's that Disney LIES.

Did you hear me? THEY LIE.

DISNEY= LIES.

I hope I've gotten the point across to every happily-fucking-ever-after out there. You obviously have not met my friend reality. And reality's big, bad, asstastic brother, Karma.

Karma and reality don't like me. They don't like you either, so at least I'm not alone here.

But yeah, Tinker the fucking Bell was in the room with me. And she was shining the bright little light in my face. Stupid little hellfire light.

I squinted into the shine, trying to _not_ blind myself while at the same time trying to figure out what the hell was going on. But, like the dumbass that I am, I decided to go with the whole 'talk before I think' routine.

"So…Tinkerbell… wazzup? Where's your boyfriend Pete? And Hook? And the crocodile? Oh, and that pixie dust shit you're always spraying around?" Tink looked at me like I was an exotic animal that could speak fluent French, or an alien that said it was born on Earth. Or maybe she was just looking at me like I was a raving lunatic.

Which, admittedly, I am.

"Um, my boyfriend's name is Jasper and my name is Alice," she said it real slow, like she wasn't sure whether or not I could figure out what she was saying. But I could understand it alright. And that's when I remembered.

"Wait, you're the pixie chick?" wait for it, it gets better, "Wait, you're brother is Edward? Which means you're a vampire, right?" then it hit me. Brava Bella, you get an award for slowest person to understand what the fuck is going on right after getting kidnapped.

Yup, I'd been kidnapped. And I said as much to Pix in the corner over there.

"Wait a fucking second! You kidnapped me! You put that freaking cloth to my mouth and I passed out and you fucking kidnapped me! And what the fuck is a premonitionary blank spot?" Pixie chick, a.k.a. Alice, kind of just stared at me for a bit. And then for a little bit longer.

"Yeah we kidnapped you, don't act so insulted. This is an everyday kind of thing in the world," she looked down at her nails, examining the pristine shits for dirt, "don't flatter yourself into thinking that this is a once in a time thing out there."

"Um, I wasn't planning on that. But thanks," flatter myself? Where the fuck is this chick from? Pluto? "And now that we're passed the whole you gloating over my easy capture stage, can we get on to the part where you explain what the hell is going on? Or maybe you can just let me go. That'd be nice too."

Pix laughed out loud. And damn, if that wasn't the evilest little laugh I'd ever heard in all my life. She had her head thrown back and just the right amount of cackle/deepish 'mwa-haha's I'd ever fucking witnessed.

And the fact that this was coming from someone who looked like a benevolent fairy wasn't lost on me either.

"Oh, you're funny!" she stopped laughing. Like, it just cut off in a very abrupt ominous kind of way. And it freaked me out. "But I think that I'm the one who'll be dictating the terms of our…meeting." I nodded real fast. No use in arguing to someone who's got you trapped in a cellar. And tied to a chair.

Did I mention that I was tied to a chair? Well, I am. And it sucks some major ass.

"You see," she hopped up onto the table and swung her legs back and forth," I believe that my siblings and I are the ones who will need to know what the hell is going on from _you,_" she smiled a smile that just oozed hostility, " and maybe then we'll let you go. If you aren't a threat, that is. But you most certainly are, seeing as you know too much about us already." I swallowed. Me and my big mouth.

"Haha, little old me?" I gulped, "Know about you? Naw… I was just kidding about the vampire thing. And the fact that Edward would like to drain me dry. Haha. Just kidding. Really." I cringed. This was not helping my case. Alice's eyes narrowed menacingly.

"About that… how do you know so much about us? I mean, you can't know _everything_ seeing as you insist on calling us _vampires_," she spit it out like it was a dirty offense, "but you still know a lot more than we happen to be comfortable with." I sighed. This was getting me nowhere. Unless you count a ditch on the side of the road with my neck slitted a good place to be.

"Look. If you're going to kill me, go ahead. I could care less," Total bluffage. "But I really can't help knowing this shit about you, it's just the way I am." Her eyes flared.

"It's just your business to get into other people's lives and find out what you can to ruin them? Is it just the way you are to waltz in here with some info already on your shoulders so you can hurt someone who was doing fine until you came along? Huh? Because you _can_ help it, bitch, and now because of you and your stupid informer, our almost normal life isn't so normal anymore. Who put you up to it? The Volturi?"

How dare she? _Her _almost normal life is being ruined? What about mine, huh? Her brother almost fucking killed me! All I wanted was to have some peace and quiet in this boring hell of a town, but _no._ I had to meet a vampire and I had to be chased and I had to get supervision and be abnormally fast and then I had to be kidnapped and _now_ some little shit who looks like a fucking Disney character is going to tell me that _I'm _the one in fault?

I think not.

"Alright you little fucking pixie shithead," I hissed with as much venom as I could get out whilst being tied to a chair, "I don't know who the fuck these Volturi people are. I did not intentionally try and ruin your life and shouldn't I be the one in woe right now? I come to this fucking town and hope that nothing weird is going to happen to me and then you and you're stupid little family walk into _my_ life and _your_ brother tries to kill me just as I make some friends. Not disregarding that he's one of the prettiest people I've ever seen. I really can't help the fact that I know what I know. What would you do if every time you touched someone you got bombarded with their fucking thoughts, huh?!" At that I bobbed my head forward so it brushed against her outstretched hand.

Her outstretched hand which had stretched out so as to slap me when I called her a pixie shithead but had become a little too shocked to actually finish its journey to my face.

_Huh…what? What… she can read minds? But, but…she's human? Right? She can't, I bet she can't. She's lying._

"Oh, I am not lying. Test me. Try it out. Think of something only you would know." I nudged her hand again, impatiently.

_Well fine then. If you can hear my mind right now, tell me what I am. Tell me that I'm not a vampire. Tell me that I'm a Hybrid._

"Wait a second," my anger was replaced with confusion and just a whole lot of curiosity," what's a Hybrid?"

And Pix fell off the table.

"Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh, Ohmygosh it's true. She can read my mind. What the fuck is going on?" Pix just sat on the floor and stared at me with the perfect 'I've been knocked on my ass, what the hell' expression.

And I burst out laughing.

Alice's eyes managed to widen even more and she just gaped. Her mouth was open and closing and opening like she wanted to say something but wasn't able to manage it at the moment. And I was laughing like a deranged person, tears streaming down my face. I really couldn't help it.

"Yo-you're face!" I broke into guffaws at that point, kind of manly sounding and real embarrassing. Pix managed to smile a bit at that. And then she was chuckling too.

Five minutes later we were still laughing, me dying in my chair, her rolling around on the floor.

The door slammed open.

"What the fuck is going on?" I looked up, still laughing, to see what I could only presume was Rosalie, Emmet, and Jasper looking at the spectacle before them with astonished faces. Alice and I stopped and stared at them. They stared back.

And then the two of us just started laughing harder.

"Are- are they okay?" Emmet was talking to nobody in particular. Actually he was kind of addressing the floor like it knew what the hell was going on. He looked imploringly at Jasper.

"Did the girl do something to her?" Jasper shook his head and managed to smile. That smile made his emoness melt away like ice cream on hot pavement in July. Pavement that is really, really hot. Just like Jasper was really, really hot.

But not as hot as Edward.

Then again, they were all extraordinarily beautiful, especially up close. There wasn't a flaw to be seen, not a hair out of place, not a wrinkle in their designer clothes. But I had a feeling that if they did have anything out of place or wrinkly clothes, it wouldn't make a damn difference. And I cold tell it wasn't plastic surgery or any type of miracle product, nope. These people were naturally gorgeous.

Grr… Stupid pretty people.

"They're both laughing, both are naturally amused. I'm guessing that one of them did or said something stupid for them to look like this," he waved his arm in our general direction, "You know how Ali gets when people do stupid stuff. She can't help but be a very happy kind of person. If someone so much as trips in public, she's reduced to this condition." He smiled at her adoringly and her laughter ceased. I felt a wave of calm hit me. Our laughter broke off into little random chuckles and then a long sigh. Alice stood up, brushed off her clothes, and turned to her siblings with a twinkle in her eye. She opened her mouth to say something but I was faster.

"Anybody want to untie me here? I feel like a prisoner of war." Alice chuckled again and she went over to me. While she was untying that damn fucking rope she started explaining to her siblings who were looking at me worriedly.

"She's not a Volturi spy, actually she doesn't have any inside information whatsoever, so we needn't worry about the Millicent interfering with us," at that they all visibly relaxed. Except for me, I was curious about these Volturi people, "She's special, like us. I'm not exactly sure what she is though, she's not a Hybrid, obviously, although she has the telltale pale skin and sweetened blood." They all took an experimental sniff as the rope fell away. I stood up stiffly.

"Uh, I'd like to know why you're all trying to sniff out my blood scent, and what's a Hybrid?" They all smiled sheepishly, well at least Emmet and Jasper did, Rosalie just glared at me again.

"Well, Bella is it?" I nodded, "You have weirdly sweet blood. More sweet than most humans. But not sweet enough to enact bloodlust…" she appraised me, curious, questioning, "So I wonder why Edward would…" she trailed off.

"Want to eat me, basically?" No use in denying it, it happened, "Well, when I touched him, he kept going on about singers and unlocking his mind or something like that." Alice's eyes went wider and her expression cleared. She obviously knew what that meant.

Now if only she could explain it to me.

I reached out and poked her experimentally,

_She's his _singer! _Edward's singer! But that means-_

Alice glared at me.

"Bella, could you _not _read my mind? It would be much more polite if I just told you. Which I probably will, you're a part of this now," she smiled warmly, "and if I didn't tell you, you'd just hold my hand or something." I laughed. It was so very true.

"Wait, what? Read minds?" This was Rosalie speaking. Emmet and Jasper were just staring at me, openmouthed.

"But I thought only Hybrids and vampires could do that?" I shrugged, so did Alice. And then I was back with my questions, which were still not being answered.

"What are Hybrids? Can somebody please pipe up and explain this shit to me," Jasper and Emmet's mouths closed with a snap, Rosalie stiffened, and Alice twirled around, pirouetting like she hadn't a care in the world.

"Well," she stopped her spinning and stared at me again," it's a long story. You answer our questions first and then we'll tell you." I felt like a dog being offered a treat if I'll only roll over. Or sit, stay, shake, play dead, etc. I think you get it.

"Fine," I sighed rather impressively and sat down in the chair, waiting. I wasn't disappointed.

"Well what can-"

"How are you able to-"

"Why did you-"

"Can you do anything –"

"Guys! One at a time!" They shut up, thankfully. All that noise was doing wonders for my developing headache. I help up my hand imperiously, and then I pointed to Alice, indicating she could go first.

What can I say? She was the nicest of them all so far.

"Why did you come here?" Well that's easy. I explained to her about my mother and her being the devil's twin sister. I told her about my journey here, what my home life had been like, etc. I even included Carl and Logan and the whole old people Mile High Club details.

Once Emmet stopped giggling, yes the man mountain was giggling over the fact that I heard perverted old man thoughts, I pointed to him next.

"Okay, how are you able to read minds? Edward has a similar power, but I'm guessing that yours works differently." Wait, Edward can read minds too? Could he read mine? I filed those questions away for later.

So I explained next how, for as long as I could remember, I was able to hear peoples thoughts and vicariously 'feel' their emotions when I made physical contact. I decided to demonstrate, just in case we had any skeptics.

"Emmet, come here." He looked wary. Funny. Big dude who could probably squish me was scared of my tiny stature. Well, maybe not my stature and more my power.

"Don't worry, I'm just going to poke you," He inched forward, much too slowly for my liking. I had questions too and I was eager to get my interview over with. I stepped towards him and poked his bulging bicep.

_Oh shit. She's pretty scary for someone who's only about five feet. Then again, Ali's the same way-_

"Hey! I am more than five feet tall!" Emmet felt slightly shocked, I could sense it. And I was indignant. Five feet my ass!

_She can hear my thoughts, shit, shit, shit what do I do? What if I start thinking stuff like what me and Rosie were doing the other day-_

I backed up fastish, don't want to hear _those_ thoughts. Or see those images.

"Yeah big guy, no need to go thinking things like _that_," He blushed a slight pink, but his cool gray eyes crinkled in a smile at the corners. Rosalie and Jasper looked on astonished. Then curiously. Like they wanted to ask more questions.

They both opened up their mouths.

"Jasper first." He smiled, Rosalie frowned at me. Personally, I believe that's an improvement. Compared to all the glaring that is.

"Can you do anything else?" I thought about that one, hard. Because I myself wasn't really sure.

"Well…"I approached this topic slowly, "If I touch animals, I can 'read' their minds too. But it's more sensations and images than anything." He nodded, surprised but curious.

And now to go to the uncertain part.

"And strange things have been happening to me since I got here." I tapped my chin in what I hoped was a wondering manner, "When I first saw you guys, well mainly when I first saw _Edward, _it was like my vision was magnified. I was about fifty feet away from your table but I could see his eyelashes curl on his cheeks, I could see his lips move as he talked, I could see a pulse on his neck," I blushed. I really hoped they couldn't tell that I was slightly obsessed with Eduardo.

"Then, after I got out of Biology and literally ran for my life, another strange thing happened. I remember just running, no concept of time or place just the away aspect in mind. And then, in the meadow, when I told Edward what I knew, basically shocking him into sense, he was thinking how he couldn't hear me?" I turned then to Alice, "How Alice couldn't see me? Then, he was saying that I ran really fast. Faster than any normal human. I didn't think much of it until I checked the clock when he left," I took a breath, "It said 2:15 and Banner's class had ended at 2:13. It took me an hour to get back to the school." They all watched me, cautious, amazed, completely befuddled. I felt the same way.

"Then, when I got back to school, I could still see you at your table so clearly, like I had super-vision or something. And I could hear you almost perfectly from fifty feet away. It's almost like having interaction with all of you has sharpened my senses. I don't know." We all mulled it over, the silence pressing in on all sides. Well three down, one to go.

I motioned to Rosalie that she could ask her question. She looked down at the floor, contemplating something, before looking up at me again. There was a hard light in her eyes.

"How do we know you don't work for the Volturi? How did you end up here, of all places? A coincidence? I don't believe in coincidences." I nodded, smiling at her sadly. I knew that she just wanted to protect her family, she didn't trust anything that could be considered a threat, whether it was or not. And I admired her for that. She didn't have a personal agenda against me, she just didn't like me because I could pose a danger to those that she loves.

"I'm sure. I don't even know who these Volturi people are. You're just going to have to learn how to trust me, maybe I'll earn it someday. And maybe someday you'll earn mine." She acknowledged me with a slight smile that didn't really reach her eyes.

But hey, at least she was trying.

"Okay, now that I've fulfilled my part of the deal and told you a bit about myself, it's your turn to answer _my_ questions." They looked at each other then back at me, then around the room.

"Alright," Emmet seemed eager," but I vote we get out of here first, this room's a bit too dreary for my liking." He smiled wide, little dimples winking at me, "We were planning on a good cop/bad cop routine for you, but as you can see it was an epic fail of epic proportions." I laughed. Instead of scaring them shocking and scaring me shitless, it was me who did all the shocking and the scaring. And a little bit of laughing.

Okay a lot of laughing.

We all agreed and I followed them out the door into a large expanse of yard.

"You had me in the shed? Really?" Nice way to make me feel like a dog. Even Rosalie laughed at that, I bet it was her idea in the first place.

"Well yeah, you were a prisoner and under investigation, _obviously," _Alice scoffed playfully, "But we'll be treating you like a guest from now on, so into the house we go!" She wound her arm through mine and skipped/dragged me all the way into the mansion they called their 'house'. Yeah right, it was a fucking apartment complex. The Pixie was surprisingly strong and managed to keep me upright the entire trip in. That is until she let go of me and I tripped from sheer amazement.

This place was beautiful. We were in what I presume was a sitting room, elegant drapes, soft cushy looking red couches, a chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, all sparkles and crystal. The cream carpet looked an inch thick and a large grand piano, gleaming and polished, sat in the corner of the room. Or maybe it wasn't really a corner, seeing as the room was circular and all. The opposite wall was made mostly of windows, and through it I could see forests. The house must have been set on a hillside, because I was looking down on a valley bathed in the light of a setting sun. The trees gleamed like emeralds; a sparkling lake's reflection of the sun reminded me of a diamond. The sapphire sky was tinged with ruby, amethyst, and amber, floating over the sea of jade. I felt like I was looking into a jeweler's shop, with all the colors of all the precious stones displayed before me.

All in all, it was a beautiful sight.

Once I had gotten over the shock of that kind of beauty just staring me in the face (and after I got off the floor) I looked around to see the others sitting with their respective partners on two of the couches. I sank back into a black futon, and after a few second's silence, opened my big fat mouth.

Sometimes I wish that I wasn't so stupid.

"What are Hybrids? What can Alice do? What can Edward do? What are the Volturi?" Alice went to start answering my many questions but we were interrupted.

"What's going on here?" They all jumped guiltily and turned as one towards the door.

I looked into two pairs of golden eyes, and then another pair that was most familiar to me. A pair of eyes that kept me locked in their gaze, a gaze of hunger and guilt. Eyes belonging to a body that was being restrained quite forcefully, I might add.

A pair of eyes the color of the trees outside the window.

Emerald green.

_Oh fuck._

* * *

Gosh I am MEAN, aren't I? WHAT a cliffie! So what's a Hybrid? What are these Millicent we hear of? What's Edward doing here?

Curious yet?

Well a lot of questions will be answered in the next chapter so you're going to have to wait and see. And read.

Oh and a little hint: REVIEWING gives me MOTIVATION to WRITE. So what do you do now? Why REVIEW of course! Especially if you're curious! I'm also open to any ideas and/or criticism. Okay maybe not criticism but I'm expected to do the whole modest thing. If you want a chapter 9 up within a week, review. That's all I can say.

Haha. I know what's going to happen and you don't!!!

I love being the lucky bitch in charge.


	9. We're All Insane Here

Disclaimer: I am not SM and thus, I don't own this. Just so you know.

Alright people, here it is.... get ready for a virtual 'are you shitting me' issue. I really hope you feel the way I do about this chapter. The story is kind of just writing itself at this point. So don't blame me for the fucked uppedness that ends up on screen.

* * *

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh my holy fucking fuck.

"Will somebody _please _explain this," the tense voice brought me out of my stupor and shifted my gaze from the fiery green eyes to the body holding my potential killer back. Or bodies, should I say.

A young man and woman, though both obviously older than the Cullen siblings, held Edward back with what seemed like relative ease. Their skin was a deathly white color, they were both breathtakingly beautiful, and most mysterious of all, they both possessed warm golden eyes. Like amber swimming in honey.

Were these two more Hybrids? I doubted it. Seeing them standing next to Edward while he was so magnificently alive made me see the vast amounts of difference between them. His skin was flushed, as in a fever while theirs looked like it had never seen the light of day. His eyes were burning brighter than any star of any galaxy, and theirs, though warm, lacked that vibrancy. But of all the things that seemed to mark them as different was what I could see with my newly acquired super-vision.

Edward's pulse was racing. I couldn't find theirs.

"Nothing Carlisle, Esme," Emmet was speaking now, his usually gruff voice toned with an underlying squeak, "Bella here followed us home and we didn't want her wandering home after dark and getting lost."

Um, hello?

"Emmet! Don't pull that shit with them! Or me! I am not a dog and I didn't 'follow you home' like some lost puppy. How would I sneak up on you guys with your super-freaky-Hybrid senses, anyways? Tell it to them like it is. Kid-COUGH-nap-HACK-ed." Then I shut up because they were all glaring at me so hard I was surprised I wasn't dead. Like dead with my guts ripped out and decorating the room kind of dead.

"Wait, you _kidnapped _her?" Now I wasn't the only one to whirl around really fast. The room was dark now that the sun had finally set, but I could still see the speaker of that pretty pissed off sounding statement. And whop-de-do, it was Eduardo himself.

It was kind of surprising, all in all. I mean now he wasn't looking at me like he was going to eat me (which I kind of enjoyed in a sick, masochistic way), he was staring at his siblings with a pretty good dosage of 'I'm going to kick all of your asses, just you wait." It was pretty hot, I have to admit.

And it was pretty contradictory, if you ask me. But nobody really does. Ask me that is. Or answer me for that matter. _Which _reminds me-

"Okay Edward, we know where each of us stands," I actually stood up to emphasize, "you would like to, well, kill me and I myself would rather stay alive," Everyone, mostly Edward, was looking at me like I was a mental patient.

Not too far off mark there.

"Now, you can continue your party of woe and betrayal to the fact that while you were trying to be a good little Hybrid, meaning not killing me, your siblings brought me to this house over _there," _I pointed out the door through which he had just walked, "Because I have been questioned and knocked out and utterly confused today and that whole confusion thing was starting to clear up right when you walked in the door. So I'm hoping that you would be so kind as to not interrupt my one chance for some much deserved answers right now. I would very much appreciate it." It was silent for about a minute before anyone made a sound.

I sat down.

"Alright…then," Carlisle, at least I'm guessing he was Carlisle, stared at me strangely. Then he glared meaningfully at the siblings and steered the stunned Edward into the other room. Edward's eyes had gone really wide at my speech and his mouth was gaping and his expression just screamed utter confuddlement.

I'm with you all the way bud.

I turned to the other Cullens whose expression almost mirrored Edward's. Except theirs were less shocked and more kind of respectful and amused. They had obviously gotten somewhat used to my antics.

I turned to the woman with the golden eyes.

"Esme, I assume?" She smiled widely and it was the most beautiful, motherly smile I had ever witnessed in my short life. I had never seen Renee smile like that at me and here's this complete and total stranger doing it.

"You assume correctly. And that was my husband Carlisle. I, in turn, assume that you have already met my son, Edward," her smile fell a little at that. She extended her hand to shake but Alice stopped her beforehand.

"You might not want to shake Bella's hand just yet Esme. Trust me," she nodded in my direction in a slightly weary way. What can I say? It was completely true.

So Esme, instead of shaking my hand, was told in parts of my kidnapping (insert outraged gasp and reprimandation), the strange state of Alice and I when the rest walked into the interrogation room, my abilities (she was slightly amazed in a very flattering way), and of what the rest had gleaned about my journey and such from my answers to their never-ending questions. Okay, maybe not ever-ending, but it still took them a while.

'Well Bella," she looked at me like she had no idea what the hell she should say, "I feel inclined to apologize on behalf of my children here," they all waved in a coyly innocent, sheepish manner. Yeah, guys, I think we've met. No need to wave.

"Well I accept your apology on the grounds that I get some of _my _questions answered," I felt like I had a bit of power in this situation and dammit I liked it. Esme nodded at me in a very solicitous manner.

"Yes, you deserve the truth. But realize that we ourselves do not know the whole story, I just hope you are satisfied with the fact that you will know as much as we do about our history and origins as we do," well, that's good enough for me I guess. She motioned to me in a way that implied that I was allowed to start asking.

I just really hoped she didn't regret it.

"So what are Hybrids? What can you do? How did this start? Who are the Millicent? Who are the Volturi? Why do you and Carlisle look different from the others? Why does Edward want to kill me?" My questions poured forth like the waters breaking out of dam. And apparently nobody had been able to understand a sentence after the whole Hybrid question.

"Why don't we start at the beginning?" Esme was smiling at me in what I hoped was an amused way.

"Edward will be 'listening' from the other room, don't worry I'll explain that too," I had been opening my mouth to ask how Edward could possibly hear us. I smiled shyly and waited.

That was the point where everything I thought I knew about my world changed forever.

"This world is not what it really seems to be. There are more than just animals and skies tinged blue and animals of exotic quantity out there. Humans are not, in this world at least, the smartest or the fastest or the strongest. They are not the top of the food chain," her eyes blazed as she fixed me in her gaze, "we, my husband Carlisle and I, are and our children are right beneath us on the scale. Carlisle and I are vampires, the Hybrids are only half vampire, and you, dear girl, are becoming part of our world.

"There are hundreds of vampires all over the world, secret societies and covens, but the most feared group is the Volturi. They are the government of our kind, ruling with an iron fist and keeping the balance. They are fearsome and powerful, led by three brothers who have lived longer than most, three millennia in fact. These brothers are in turns cruel, judicious, conniving, falsely generous, and curiously good play actors. They call themselves the Millicent, meaning brave strength. But do not be fooled, for Aro, Marcus, and Cauis are more deceptive than most creatures could even attempt to comprehend.

"My husband visited Volterra about three hundred years ago in an attempt to gain some much needed medical knowledge in the Volturi's vast library. He made friends with the brother who has the most power of the three, Aro. He was intrigued by the way the old one's mind worked, always pulling people into his web like a spider. Carlisle believes he does this only because he likes to play games, but I myself do not believe that anyone should be permitted to play games at other's expense, no matter how bored they are," she sighed and shook her head, "But of course, Carlisle likes to believe that everyone has good in them, and I wouldn't love him if he didn't feel that way.

"Anyways, while there, Carlisle stumbled upon something quite peculiar; a group of humans seemingly living within the Volturi castle. But even from far away he could tell that these humans were different, their blood was sweeter than was appetizing, and even though Carlisle had always been a vegetarian, he did not want their blood. It smelled good, but not good enough to eat. He saw that these humans walked with a grace and assurance through the vampire-ridden halls of Uther, the Volturi stronghold, which belittled their kind. He approached Aro on inquiry about these strange smelling humans, and Aro, quite delightedly I might add, began the tale of the Hybrids.

"Six hundred years ago, in a time where humans were less ignorant but less dangerous, there was another ruler of the Volturi, Mather. He was feared by all in every land and was a fearsome warrior. Mather was said to have a heart of stone, an iron will power, and a good sense of justice. He was fair to all, but he was still cold inside. Then, one day while out hunting, Mather stumbled upon a beautiful maiden walking through the forest. She was prettier than the moon and the stars and Mather was almost driven insane by the desire to possess her, for he loved her. Amor, as was her name, began to love Mather in turn and she agreed to be his, but she knew what he was, and she knew what she would become. So Amor consented to marriage under one condition, she must give birth to a child first.

"Things were going good, Amor conceived a child and the wedding was well on its way. But this is where things get murky in our tale. Aro told Carlisle that Amor, while in childbirth, was killed by the baby she had so longed to give life to. He said that Mather went mad, he reached for the baby and held the wailing infant in one hand, a knife in the other. But then the baby opened its eyes, and they were a remarkable green color, the color of Amor's eyes. He couldn't kill the baby; so instead, he took his own life and passed onto his next in the arms of his beloved. Or at least, that's how Aro described it.

"The baby's name was Edward. He became the first Hybrid in millennia, for truly, there had been Hybrids before him, but they had all been slaughtered centuries before the Millicent were even 'born'. We know of their existence through vampire lore and history, much of which is kept in the library of Uther. And that is where Carlisle was directed when he wanted to learn more of the Hybrids.

"These other Hybrids had all been born within ten years of Edward, as an experiment. And so, Rosalie and Jasper Hale are actually biological twins. Their mother died from the double birth. Emmet and Alice, on the other hand, are siblings also, but they are a year apart; Emmet is older than Alice by a year. Their father, Dmitri, had fallen in love with his human just as Mather had, but his wife managed to have two separate births before she and Dmitri were married and she was changed. She lives with him now, in Volterra. Rosalie and Jasper's father, Ezekiel, died in battle before they could remember him. And remembering is another strange factor in the Hybrid puzzle.

"While in the library, Carlisle found out many things. He learned that all Hybrids have a special gift that is a manifestation of their vampire parents'. He learned from the Hybrids themselves of their powers; Alice can see into the future, Edward can 'read' minds, Jasper can influence emotions, Emmet is abnormally strong, and Rosalie's beauty is as deadly as a snake's. He learned that it takes Hybrids two hundred years to reach their maturity, and that the minute they do mature, they forget everything they previously knew. They have no memory of those first two hundred years; it is locked within their minds. The only way for them to get that memory is for them to drink the blood of their singer.

"Another curious thing about the Hybrids is that they do not have bloodlust. The human in them controls most of their diet, so they eat human food, but their bodies are so strong and resilient that they need only eat a small meal every two weeks to stay satisfied. The only time these creatures feel bloodlust is when they meet their singer. And then it is so strong because they have never lusted after blood before. They become like newborn vampires: savage, insane, destructive. But when they do drink the blood of their singer, those first two hundred years come back in a flash. They then know every second of every day of every year that they had forgotten and it is more perfectly recalled than that of a vampire's human memories. And Edward is the first of this group who has found his singer.

"You can imagine the allure of your blood, young one, for with it, Edward might see his parents in the last seconds of their lives, and he may find out whether or not what Aro told us is true. And he would like to know very much, for he has a yearning to know his parents. We know only that Amor was beautiful and that Mather was the leader of the Volturi. We know what happened and we also know that Mather could see into people's souls. He saw all their desires and ambitions and thoughts and for that reason alone, we do not believe that the Millicent could have brought about the demise of Mather, for your soul cannot hide memories," her brow furrowed suddenly, "Edward though, he believes that it would have been truly easy. He thinks that vampires, and Hybrids also, have no souls," she turned her head towards the door and set her mouth, "But I think that is complete crap,"

I could see the surprise on everyone's face at the word coming from this distinguished, elegant woman. Me? I didn't really care as long as she got on with the story. I was intrigued. Seeing my impatience, Esme continued.

"The Volturi had planned to breed the Hybrids as killers, they would be perfect; cold efficiency, no distractions by blood or having to feed too often, looked like humans and seemed less threatening to enemy vampires, the same strength and agility of a full grown vampire. But the Hybrids were more humane by nature than those ruthless rulers. They couldn't kill humans because they were humans themselves, they couldn't kill vampires because they were part vampire. All in all, the idea of a Hybrid assassin corps died with the realization that the Hybrids were too 'soft' as the Volturi called them. They were a waste of space, presumably, and when Carlisle heard, he offered to adopt them. Aro readily agreed, he was planning on sending them off somewhere anyway. So Carlisle brought Edward, Rosalie, Emmet, Jasper, and Alice home. About a hundred years ago, the Hybrids found me on the bottom of a cliff. I was still human and on my last breaths. They brought me to Carlisle and, after a battle within himself, changed me. The Hybrids themselves aren't venomous, so nobody but Carlisle would have been able to change me anyway.

"I never regretted jumping off that cliff, for I was attempting suicide you see. I had been raped and impregnated, but I instantly adored my child. I had a miscarriage and in my despair, planned to take my own life. I figured I had nothing to live for. But now, I have found my life, what I was meant for, in my death as a human and my rebirth as a vampire. I took on Carlisle's diet, drinking blood only from wildlife, and that is why we have golden eyes. If we drank from humans, our eyes would be red," I shivered at the thought of this gentle woman ripping open the neck of a poor victim, as Edward had wanted to do to me.

What a terrible thing to want, the death of another.

"Now that you know enough background history, I think it's time that Alice and Jasper explain to you about theirs and Edward's gifts."

Alice stood up slowly and faced me; she talked in a strange, almost dreamy voice, probably under Esme's spell as I was.

"I can see into the future, but it is fragmented, chaotic. The future isn't set in stone, as they say. The future is more like a main road with a mess of side-cuts and twists and turns and branches. It's like a nest; all the pieces together create a bigger picture, but if one fiber unweaves, the entire structure is affected. The future changes with people's choices and the outcomes depend on the situation. I get random visions a lot of the time, usually things that involve our family, but I can also willingly search the future. You, however are an oddity to me and my visions. I cannot see you, you are a premonitionary blank spot, my gift is useless with you. This has never happened to me before.

"I hear that other psychics are not able to see half-creatures, like Hybrids and werewolves, yes there are werewolves, but I think that the fact that I am a Hybrid makes it possible to see other half- creatures. But not you. That's why I wasn't able to warn Edward of your coming. And it pisses me off, badly," she glared at me like it was my fault, but I was a little too stunned to care. Oh, not about the fact that I am an oddity. I'm used to that.

I was still trying to digest the fact that there are werewolves.

What. The. Fuck.

Alice was staring at me again, all frustrated and confused. But hell if I wasn't on the same page. Then Jasper stood up next to her and wrapped his arm comfortingly around her shoulder, she relaxed and he started speaking.

"I can control emotions, as I think you noticed in the shed when I calmed you down. I can cause people to be happy, scared, calm, angry, any emotion I choose. But I also sense emotions in a way that I feel what other people feel. If you are angry, I feel some of that anger, if you are sad, I feel some of that sadness. It kind of sucks, but I've learned to control it in the way that I become a little less, well, feeling. I may seem like a cold person to some, but I'm just keeping a rigid leash on my emotions so that I don't go insane," I nodded sympathetically. People thought I was a recluse, contact-phobic, but I just didn't like hearing thoughts. Or sensing emotions.

So I could totally relate.

"But it's nothing compared to the shit that Edward has to go through," Jasper looked towards the door, "He can hear thoughts, and he doesn't have to make contact with anyone to do it. It's involuntary, uncontrollable. He has to listen to everyone within a mile and be a witness to their incessant thoughts whether he wants to or not. There is no off button, there is no break. And the only person in all his life that Edward has never 'heard' before is you. He can't see into your mind, you block him off. He described it as a point of complete silence in a hall full of noise. You aren't seen by Alice in the future, your mind is blocked from Edward, but I can still influence you. It puzzles us, but we think that you probably don't know much more than we do. So there you have it. That's everyone's story and you got yourself an answer. So now what do you say?"

What? Am I supposed to say thank you or something? Yeah, thanks for fucking up my life even more. Thanks for answering questions that wouldn't have been driving me insane if I hadn't met you. Thanks for that, bastard. What I would like to say is 'fuck you' or 'go to hell you soulless son of a bitch' but I don't think Alice would like that.

And Pix was scary.

"Um, yeah. I have nothing to say besides what the hell, what the fuck, and am I dreaming? Oh, and that I'm probably insane as are you all. But whatever. I might as well accept this craziness, huh? I'm like Alice in Wonderland and you guys are the fucking Cat going 'we're all mad here'. Creepy movie." Silence. Complete silence.

And then someone in the hall was laughing their ass off.

I'm pretty sure it was the prettiest fucking sound I had _ever_ heard. Like a siren song or something. The others must have seen my dreamy face, because then they were all laughing too. You know what guys? Shut up, shut the hell up. Because we all knew that was Edward laughing and we all knew that I was hopelessly attracted to him, as I'm sure Jasper could sense _all_ too well right then. Actually, he was looking at me like he wanted to put me in a box and ship me away before I made him do something stupid…like jump Alice. And that's when all the lust towards the Adonis in the hall melted away.

Pix and Blondie. Images I did not need right then.

The laughter stopped, but I could still hear the random chuckle every now and then… actually the chuckling seemed to be getting closer…

And in walked Eduardo.

He was smiling this crooked smile that made me melt completely and turn to Jell-O. Thank goodness I was already sitting. But jeez, one side was higher than the other, and his eyes seemed to just absolutely _shine_, and he was looking right at me and I was smiling back and everything was perfect. Even though my mind was saying that he kind of thought I was his next meal, in a way. But when have I ever listened to myself?

The others were looking between us warily, but Carlisle was still holding Edward back and he seemed fine. I relaxed into the back of the couch when I realized something weird.

It was dark, like pitch black. And I could still see perfectly.

Everything was clear, as if it was day, and when I looked out the window it was clearly night. But before I could say anything to anyone about this weird little discovery I had just made, I saw something that set my heart stuttering and put my body into a near frenzy.

There was a full moon.

I could feel my eyes widen, could feel the adrenaline rise as I stepped forward into the moonlight. The silver pool enveloped me as I got closer the window. I put my palms against it and stared and stared and stared at the white ball of light floating in the sky. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, more beautiful even than Edward. My body calmed and I sighed, but it sounded strange to me. It was a sigh of complete inner peace and reverence. Inner peace? ME?

But I didn't dwell on it, I didn't think about anything but the light of the moon as it cradled me. I seemed to step outside of myself and I could see the wonderment and awe on my face. I had gone into a kind of trance. I mean I had seen the full moon before, but never like_ this._ My senses sharpened; my eyes could see even farther, I could have heard a flea breathing right then. The moonlight felt warm to me, my tired body rejuvenated and revived and I had never felt so alive. I could smell the pine trees outside, the fragrance of the beings of the room. And I could hear them clearly too.

"What's happening to her? Her blood…it-it's changing. I can smell it, but… it doesn't smell the same? Less sweet perhaps? I don't want her blood right now. I can smell it, but I don't want it," the annoying voice behind me sounded like a choir of angels of course, but it was still distracting me from looking at the jewel in the sky. I knew it was Edward talking and I could understand what he was saying, but I could have cared less.

Apparently the others weren't caught up in rapture.

"Wait, what? Her blood is changing you say? But that's- wait… I smell it too. It is changing, becoming muskier, stranger? It's _changing!"_ Similar exclamations were being made behind me but I didn't pay attention, I couldn't. I couldn't hear a thing that really mattered, couldn't tear my gaze away from the moon. It held me trapped before it and I was willing. It was hypnotic and mesmerizing and perfect and-

"Are you okay?" Edward had his hand on my shoulder, was trying to turn me away, but I didn't want to. I didn't want to look away. I grunted, hoping he would get it and just leave me alone, but no. This guy just had to be persistent.

"Bella. Look at me. What's happening to you?" He put both hands on my shoulders and turned me forcefully so that I would look into his eyes. But I didn't want to see green, I wanted to see silver. An absolutely inhuman snarl clawed its way out of my mouth and that sound raised the hair on _my_ arms. It pulled me out of my stupor and made me actually see the eyes I was looking into; eyes wide in surprise and a hint of fear.

"Bella?" I shook my head slowly. No, no, no, no, no. This was not happening.

"No, no, no, no, no. I don't want to be any weirder than I already am. Why does this stuff always happen to me? What's wrong with me?" I looked into Edward's eyes, worried, sparkling in concern. His hands were still on my shoulders, and the warmth and tingle they caused were grounding me.

"What's happening to me?" My voice was breaking, weak, miserable. I had almost attacked him, I was sure of it. Just because he tried to move me away from a window.

_You'll be okay. I don't know what's happening, but you'll be okay. You're not weird, you're interesting and Bella? You're not alone. You know that right? I'll be here with the others. You're like us. You're different, but that's not always a bad thing. And oh, I'm sorry for the whole wanting to kill you thing. But I hope you understand _why, _and I really hope you can forgive me._

Edward's thoughts rang through my mind, calming me. I relaxed under the feel of his hands. I melted on the inside at the concern I could see in the beautiful boy.

And I knew that I would never be the same again.

* * *

A little more serious than I usually am. But don't worry, Bella will be back to her normal, witty, sarcastic self. She's just kind of in shock right now.

So who else is going 'what. the. fuck.' and kind of just staring at the computer screen hoping that the answer will pop up?

I know how you feel.

Okay, if you are very very very very curious as to what the hell Bella _is, _I have posted a poll on my profile that will give you a few options. And I'm not just messing with your minds, the answer is in one of those choices. So go on, take a look at it and vote. See if you get it right.

I'm sad to say that I'll only be able to maybe, just maybe get up one more chappie before next week. I'm going on vacation for six days next week so there won't be some updates for a while after Tuesday. But I'm bringing my tea with me, so hopefully my mind will have enough caffeine to inspire a pretty kick ass chapter while I'm gone. Let's all hope that it is fucking fantastic.

Now that you have gotten all the uberly awesome info that you need, I think it is time that you go check out that button at the bottom of the page.

You know the drill.

See ya suckas


	10. By the Light of the Moon

Guys, I am so sorry that this took forever to update! I was _trying _to get the old geezer of a computer while on vacation to work, but NO. That was just not good enough. Fucking piece of junk.

Anyways, I really hope this can slightly make up for the delay.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Capiche?

* * *

I am done.

Fucking. Done.

You hear that world? HUH? You got that loud and clear. Done with this shit, I am. And if you still haven't gotten it then go check out Yoda, he knows what the hell I mean.

I mean, this is ridiculous. Absolutely freaking ridonkulous and I am done, done, done, done, done, done! I do not need things like this happening to me, I DO NOT.

Not only do I need to be a mind reader, no. That's just not freaky enough, is it? No, I just have to be a bloody singer to a totally hot guy so that he can only think about killing me. I just have to be abnormally fast and have super senses now, too, don't I? Oh and the coup de grace, of course, isn't as merciful as one would like to think. Yes, it fucking blows, and no, it has no mercy. My blood changes in the moonlight, I snarl at people now. I mean I've snarled before, but never really a _snarl_, snarl. If you know what I mean.

Oh. And I'm pretty sure I'm not a fucking human. Just wanted to get that out there. Just so we're all clear on the fact that I have so much shit up my ass, I'm like a constipation sensation waiting to fucking happen. I kid you not. And that pile of shit is messy and watery and plain out gross in a way that would block up any life shaped toilet in this world. Because we all have toilets representing what our life is like, right?

See what I mean? I'm so different I'm becoming my own species.

Which, surprisingly, does not surprise me. I am surprised that it doesn't surprise me but other than that I'm kind of over it. So over it I've jumped it and am now back to square one, which is under it and looking up at it going what the hell just happened. You know how you get when you think you've accomplished something and find that you've been walking in circles, squares, and triangles all day until you're so dizzy all you can do is fall on your ass and try to not empty your stomach on the Hello Kitty bag you dragged along for the rollercoaster ride. I know I'm not making sense, but you'll just have to deal. Because I myself do not know what the fuck is being spewed from my own mouth.

And that's saying something. Or not saying something and being very, very quiet. See? See?! Circles and conversations in my mind that all lead back to one little destination I like to call 'the universe has fucked you over. Welcome to the land of Irony'. Well, isn't that just hunky dory? I would like to think the fuck not.

Alright, now that I'm done rambling I might as well get to the shittingly fun freaking point. Even though I prefer stalling with utter nonsense. But let's just get to the point. Which is that I am done and done and fucking done times five bazillion. Then again, I really don't have a choice about it.

So I'll just have to deal. Or bitch. Guess which one I'm going for now?

Edward was sitting at the kitchen table and I was across from him. Rosalie was leaning against Emmet who was leaning against the counter, Alice and Jasper were perched on a chair. I mean, he's on the chair and she's on him. Oh and Carlisle and Esme are holding hands and looking from the glorious moon to glorious Edward to plain old abnormal me. And you know what?

I was feeling pretty sucky. Not just for me, but for Edward.

God it must suck being the seventh wheel for like three hundred years. I would go insane. Or more insane. I know, impossible right?

But then again, I was just a teensy tiny little bit kind of happy because, well…hotness personified/sexiness on legs in the chair across from me didn't have a lady friend. Meaning he's available. And so am I. So two available people in a room full of unavailable people? And the fact that one of us two is attracted to the other is a half win. Now a whole win would be if I could try out something, I don't know, _seductive_ and maybe kind of feel up his bicep while I'm doing it and maybe get a little signal as to what's going on in his head…

Disregarding the fact that it won't ever happen seeing as a. he wants to eat me in a non-sexual way, b. I have no seductive abilities whatsofuckingever, c. he would know what the hell was going on if I did try to touch him because I am damn freaking obvious, and d. he is hot and I am not.

But a girl can still dream. Frequently and elaborately when in present company.

But _gah_, having him so close and knowing that I don't really appeal to him in a food way at the moment is driving me crazy. If I thought he was beautiful before, I'm dumbstruck right now. I could see the green waves in his eyes, the bronze mess on his head, and his drop dead berry lips. He had a flush in his cheeks that just outlined how _alive_ he was and emphasized his cheekbones in a way that would make any Cover girl lackey jealous. And that jaw line. My gawd, I've died and gone to heaven and I am not coming back. I could probably look at this guy forever and I would still not be used to it.

Plus my salivary glands would probably shiver up and die screaming because of the ocean of drool they'd produced.

Oh, and it would be great to stare at Edward. You know, if a certain pixie person wasn't looking at me with a suspicious gleam in her eyes. And if a certain Adonis wasn't shifting around uncomfortably.

Because I was ogling him again. And he was obviously a little bit freaked out. But he didn't get out of his chair or glare at me or anything like that, so he wasn't _too_ uncomfortable. I hope.

Every once in a while he would look up, and I would gaze, yes gaze, into his gorgeously amazing eyes that were the exact color of a snake's scales and I would be lost. They would glitter and simmer and melt me away to my core and I would float in the ocean they provided for me. Sea green, forest green, emerald green, jade, moss, lime, myrtle. There weren't enough shades or options in the color of green to describe his eyes. And they were probably the part of him I loved most. You know how they say you can see someone's soul in their eyes?

Well I was starting to believe it. Because I could see his soul and it was so pretty I wanted to hug it. How could he not think he has a soul? Has he never looked in a mirror or is he just completely oblivious?

Edward pursed his lips and looked at me again. We stared at each other and I blushed what I'm sure was a shade of absolute unhealthiness, but I didn't look away. I couldn't. He looked like he wanted to say something, like he needed to say something. He opened his mouth and then those eyes of his fogged over, a mist rolling over the oceans, and his mouth slowly shut again. But he didn't look away.

I felt a crackling, an electric current between us. It seemed to flow and wave its way back and forth and I could see him lean forward just the tiniest bit. But I was leaning closer too, I needed to get closer. I felt this magnetic draw to the boy across from me. Maybe it was moon that was making me so out of sorts.

And then I wasn't leaning towards Edward anymore. I was leaning awkwardly to the left, towards the sliding door. Because that current of connectedness I'd just felt was switching its course and pulling me to something as gorgeous as Edward at the moment, the moon. I resisted, and I managed to stay in my seat for point two seconds before I was up and barreling towards it again. Just a little bit more-

Slam. Something warm and firm was holding me by the waist. I struggled against it kicked at the shins behind me, beat uselessly at the arms holding me captive. But nothing worked and through the haze that consumed me, I could hear the sweet urgent thoughts those arms induced.

_Calm yourself Isabella. Breathe in, out, in, out. Control yourself and your desires. I'll bring you closer to the moon if you will just calm yourself._

An image of myself at that moment in time flashed through Edward's mind. My eyes were crazed, my body tense and squirming, gaze locked on the silver pool of light on the tiled floor. The shock of seeing myself them half woke me up. Then another image, me tensing and launching myself out of my chair with almost demonic speed. Is that me? Is that what I looked like?

A shudder ran through me and I relaxed. But as I softened I could feel the body behind me harden, every delicious muscle of Edward's locking in place as my curves melted to fit the planes of his body. And for a second I could feel a hesitation around him, a sort of longing.

_Is this how it feels to-_

But then his body was gone, our contact severed as he stepped abruptly away. The warmth of his arms around me, the protectiveness of his embrace, the sweet melody of his thoughts, all were gone and I felt cut off and cold.

But that current of electricity between us crackled to life again, thrumming and pulsing in the light of the moon.

The room was quiet, all shushed whispers and murmured conversations silenced when I first jumped from the chair. And then all eyes on us were curious, questioning as Edward and I blushed simultaneously and looked away from each other in an awkward manner.

I glanced to the right and there again was Alice, a purely predatory grin gracing her features.

Well. That can't be good.

I was having the stirrings of another internal panic attack. Edward was beautiful, sure, but nobody had ever caused these kinds of reactions in me. This longing, comfort, desire, obsession that I felt in his presence was a novelty thing. I mean, I'd had crushes before, I'd even had one boyfriend when I went on vacation to Florida for one summer. He hadn't known me, and he thought I was cute. I thought he was cute. He brought me out some times and after our third date I could feel uneasiness rolling off of him in waves. When I touched his arm I could no longer feel contentment, or a desire. I could only get the feeling that he was wary of me and the strangeness I radiated. I broke it off with him the next day. So maybe boyfriend was stretching it a bit.

So I'd definitely felt attracted to people, and people had been attracted to me. I mean, I'm not ugly. The guys back in Phoenix even thought I was kind of hot, they just knew that I was a freak. A hot freak, but still a freak.

But this attraction, this pull I had towards Edward? I'd never felt that towards anyone before. And frankly, it scared the ever-loving bejezus out of me.

But before I could hop on the crazy train for another ride, Carlisle and Esme were in front of me and then past me. They gave me one wary glance and then they were talking in whispers to Edward with a 'what the hell was that all about?' look on their faces. The parental concern just radiated off of them. Gosh, I wish Renee was so nice and concerned like them, I mean seriously. Does she have not one bone of maternity in her body? Charlie's more motherly to me than-

"Charlie!" My voice was high pitched and slightly hysterical. Oh gosh, what would he think? He's the police chief so he could probably just send out a search party! And it was like nine at night now, and holy shit… my car. It's been in the parking lot and what if they left my bag out there or if someone found the cloth with whateverthehell was on it and they assume the worst, kidnapping, which is actually the truth… but the Cullens are just slightly crazy and can't be all normal about kidnapping me in a conscious state, they just wanted some answers! I mean, they're completely innocent, well maybe not, but, well, you know what I mean. And, and, and-

Oh what the hell! I am soo much shit right now I'm practically eating it.

Alice yawned and shook her spiky head. Jasper's eyes were just the tiniest bit crazed, he was obviously feeling my panic. Rosalie and Emmet were completely ignoring me and talking in hushed whispers about something that I probably would not want to know about. The only people who had taken note of my outburst were Carlisle, Esme, and Edward. But Edward was looking at Alice and he didn't seem panicky, just kind of pissed off in a mouth-watering way (hormones, need I say more?), Carlisle and Esme however were _very_ panicky.

"Wait, what? Alice what is going on and what were the mechanics of your kidnapping scheme, I need to talk to you later about that, and this is the Police Chief's daughter your holding _captive._ You know the guy, with all the dogs and things that will find us and make us responsible for this." Carlisle did not look happy. Well now he knew how I felt.

Alice yawned again and then went on in a bored tone that just slightly pissed me off, "Well how stupid do you think I am? Of course I anticipated what would happen if we kidnapped Bella here, even though she seems to block off a helluva lot of my visions," she glared at me again. It is not my fault. I can't help it. Get it through your head you evil Tinker Bell thing.

"So when we uh, _collected_ Bella, I had Em drive her truck over here, it's in the driveway as we speak but I don't advise Bella to look out the window. You know, seeing as she has that whole moon-complex. And I called Charlie telling him something along the lines of 'Hi, Mr. Swan, I was just wondering if Bella could stay the night at my house? This is Alice Cullen by the way. I'm a friend of Bella's and I offered to let her come over, since it's a Friday and all, but she was too shy to ask. You know how she is. And she's inside getting all her stuff together, so is it okay? I would really, really appreciate it and Bella will have so much fun,'" her voice was so sweet and sincere, _I _almost believed it. Charlie didn't have a chance.

Alice was smirking now, "Well it worked brilliantly. He said it was fine and that she could stay the whole weekend if she liked. So we've got nothing to worry about." Everyone sighed in relief. Everyone but me.

"Um, yeah. So I have to stay the night? Possibly the weekend, here? You all do know that there is a very likely chance that Edward's going to think of me as an appetizer again by the time the moon sinks. Because I don't want to be an appetizer exactly. And I'm not so sure about sleeping in the shed either." That got their attention. Not the shed part, the Edward part. Sigh, can I blame them? Who would you rather be distracted by?

And there I go again. Attempting and failing to not stare at the piece of fuckhawtness at the table. But Fiddlesticks! He was just too… too exotic I guess. He was beautiful and he was weird.

And having someone so physically attractive with about the same wavelength of 'different' in the same room as me was making my body go absolutely insane. I turned when I heard a cough and blushed when I saw Jasper shifting around and glaring at me. I shrugged and mouthed a mortified 'sorry' before turning again. And there was Alice.

Looking for all the world like Sylvester with Tweety in his paws. Shit, shit, shit. And I had the feeling that I was Tweety in this scenario.

"Bell-uh," she sung in my direction, "I've got a surprise for you!" I shook my head back and forth. The universal sign for NO THANKS. I hate surprises.

But apparently, Alice was either not trained in universal language, or she just didn't give a fuck. I'm going for the doesn't give a fuck angle.

My arm was in her vice like grip in 0.2 seconds and I was being dragged, once again, by someone only half my size. Up the stairs. Towards a door with a big sparkly sign saying 'ALICE' on it with small cursive letters spelling 'Jasper' beneath. Oh hell.

_Oooo I know you can read my mind right now, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve. I've been around Edward for a while now so I think you can imagine that I've had a lot of training in the art of silence._

_Old McDonald had a farm, e-i-e-i-o and on that farm he had a-_

Lovely. How sophisticated of her. She says she's good at being silent; I say she's a master at being so annoying that you can't help but block out whatever the hell she's saying (or thinking, whatever floats your boat).

She opened the door, which was creaking ominously, and pulled me in. And I was fucking blinded.

On every side of the room there was pink and purple and black and orange and red and blue and yellow and every single one of the colors of the fucking rainbow splattered in a mess of rainbow puke all over the walls. Seriously, it looked like strawberry shortcake and all her berry-special friends had vomited whatever the fuck they were growing in here.

Not to say that it didn't have style. Just…not a style I could exactly appreciate or ever really relate to.

There was a king bed in the middle of the room, covered in a mountain of fluffy pillows and patchy-fashionista blankets. The carpet was a shag, haha shag, and thinking that word is getting me nowhere so moving on. Anyways, the deep lilac shag carpet (tehe) covered the entire floor. This motherfucker was _huge_. And this room was huge.

There were a pair of French doors leading out to a porch thing, although I couldn't really see it from here what with me not supposed to be looking out windows and such. There was a freaking lipstick kiss studded fucking vanity in the corner of the everloving room. Really? I mean, what the hell…she's a freak and she _still_ has the teenage stereotypical mirror vanity thing. And she's not really a teenager. She's a mature six hundred something Hybrid vampire-human. That's as far from the word stereotypical as you can fucking get.

Well, maybe not. _I'm _the farthest from stereotypical. But yeah anyways…

There were two doors leading out of the room, one on the far left and one on the far right. The left one was opened and I walked forward to see what the hell was residing in their, if not a caged parakeet or something similar.

"Oh that's the closet and the other's the bathroom," Alice's airy voice drifted ahead of me as I poked my head in and fumbled around for a switch. I flipped the chunky thing and the room was flooded with a pinkish light.

Or should I say the fucking _house _was flooded with Pepto-Bismol lighting.

Mothereffort and all that the ducks have shitted while flying. That 'room' was bigger than well…bigger than any closet I had ever lived to see.

I could barely see the far wall. Yeah, that's how bad it was.

And there were clothes upon clothes upon shoes upon accessories upon what the hell I can't even describe how much shit was in that closet.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Alice had followed me in and was leaning against the door as casual as a cat.

"Um yeah, it's impressively big. How the hell did you…" I let my question die on my lips because she was looking at me with that gleam in her eyes again. Uh-oh, this can't be good.

She motioned that we move out of the closet and then she beckoned me out of the French doors. We were on a little veranda with a rose covered roof and expensive looking Venetian chairs around a glass table inlaid with pictures of forests and fairies. A scattering of colored lamps hung from the ceiling and illuminated the space with a mystical light. And above it all, the moon danced silently in the sky, it's silvery sheen beckoning me.

Where? I wasn't really sure.

"You seem to have better control over your…emotions now. An hour ago you were nearly frothing at the mouth and jumping out the window," I turned to the Pixie girl. Her tone was musing, curious as she observed me.

"I wonder what else you can do," She let the statement hang in the night air, suspended between us. I wondered too. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and smiled at me.

"Alright Bella, I have an idea. I want you to look at the moon. Tell me how you feel when you stand in its light," I stared at her quizzically. But I listened anyways. I turned my face into the light and gazed. The moon seemed to pulse with light, and suddenly, the light wasn't only silver. On the fringes were a spectrum of colors that moved as sinuously as waves in the ocean. They flowed into each other and formed a pulsing ball of light hovering on the edges of the silver falling to earth.

"The light isn't so silver now, it has a…rainbow of colors just hovering on its edges and dancing around it. The moon itself is surrounded by the ring of colors. I can _feel_ the light right now, I can taste it on my tongue almost, like honey. It's energy is just…seeping into me. Like I'm absorbing its power, its strength," I closed my eyes dreamily. You know how people 'soak up the sun' the warmth of the daylight? That's how I felt right then but it was stronger. It was like slowly sliding into a warm bath with the steam rising to pillow on your cheek. Like walking into the shade after a long day in the sun. And I could feel my body strengthening, my muscles tensing like they were ready to spring at the slightest touch.

I opened my eyes and turned to Alice, a huge content smile on my face. And she gasped.

"Your eyes! They're swirling!" She plunged her hand into her pocket and pulled out a make-up mirror. Then she held it up to me.

My eyes were no longer brown. They were a sea of chocolate and amber and honey; of mahogany and coffee and mud. And the edges were tinted silver just like the moon.

They were beautiful.

I'd never liked my eyes, I always thought they were boring and plain. But looking at them now, well… I was kind of hoping Edward could fawn over them the way I was. Really, they were almost as nice as _his_ eyes. And that's saying something.

"Huh- what the…How?" I was stumbling and stuttering over my words, wondering what the hell was going on. It was freaky yes. But I liked it. I liked my eyes this way. Or maybe that was the moon talking.

I looked away from the mirror and up at Alice. But she wasn't even paying attention. Her eyes had a dreamy unfocused look to them and she was looking right at me- but not right at me. Like her eyes were trained on my face but she seemed to be seeing something far away. Then, suddenly, she grabbed my arm. And a flood of images flew into my mind.

_A girl, brown hair, a swirl of chocolate and silver eyes. She was standing in a pool of moonlight, the air swirling her hair around her shoulders. Her eyes were closed and her face was turned towards the sky where the moon held domain. She opened her eyes and moved forward, but so fast that it was barely made out. She stood on a veranda at least two stories above the ground, but she leaped up onto the railing anyway. She looked up one more time and then went sailing into the air. She seemed to fly before she came falling down, ever so slowly. And she landed with only the lightest of touches on the grassy ground. Then she went running, loping after a small spiky-haired figure that was fast disappearing into the trees._

I let go of Alice's arm and we both stared at each other with no less the bland shock on both of our faces. And then her lightning blue eyes took on a steely, determined look. She set her mouth turned and jumped from the veranda into the night towards the trees I had seen only moments ago. As I watched her fly up into the inky dark, I caught sight, once again, of the moon. I felt its strength flow into me as I recalled the image of the girl on the veranda in Alice's vision.

Me.

I let the breeze flow around my body as I let the strength of the moon flow into me. I took a deep breath, opened my eyes, and let those tightly coiled muscles bunch together as I leaped to the railing. I looked up one more time and then I, too, was sailing through the air. I was so high up and so unafraid.

I had never, in all my years of living, felt so completely and incomparably _alive_. Every breath and I could feel the sweet air flow through my body, along with the slivers of light still illuminating the sky I was soaring through. Then I was coming down, ever so slowly, until I touched the ground at least twenty feet away from the house. But I didn't feel a thing, just the grass beneath my shoeless feet. And then I was running, zipping across the yard towards the Pixie who was already in the forest. I ran and I ran and I ran until I was caught up with her, and then ahead of her. And then I was breaking from the trees after who knows how long and a small clearing was before me.

I was not tired.

Alice came up behind me and danced around me, laughing triumphantly, "I saw you! I saw you! I saw you!" she sung it to the trees and to the sleeping birds and to the world as the moon looked down on us from overhead.

"I saw you, Bella, I saw you! In a vision, I saw you!" And she stopped and we stared and then we were both of us smiling because we were happy. For no real reason, we were happy.

And we laughed.

She saw me. So we were happy.

And above us, the moon was setting as the night faded away.

* * *

Let's keep with the program people.

Review if you're happy that I am alive and able to write things that don't make any sense.


	11. Cloud Nine Induces Nothing But Vertigo

The bitch is back!

Disclaimer: I do not own, in any shape or form, the world, characters, characteristics, main settings, and overall relationships within the series of Twilight. I am not Stephenie Meyer. Eat it.

15 PAGES! READ IT AND WEEP!

Or laugh, smile, frown, etc. I don't care, as long as you read it.

* * *

I was sitting in a meadow with silver eyes laughing my ass off as I watched the moon fall towards the horizon. It was swathed in colors and seemed to flow through the sky like a fish in the ocean. And, oh yeah, I was laughing for no damn apparent reason.

Welcome to Wonderland, bitches. It's nice to know we've finally made it.

Pix and I were having a grand old time. She kept dancing around like a smug lunatic because, apparently, she had a vision of me that came true. And I was still high on moon mojo. Seriously, that shit was dangerous. It was like heroin or something and I was the junkie, absolutely hooked on it. But, I had a feeling that instead of being _unhealthy_, this would be my saving grace.

My logic? Well here we go.

My blood changes and although creepy, this change of blood might maybe just make it possible for the most amazing piece of man meat I have ever seen to maybe just hopefully kind of someday fall in love with my awesomeness?

This will most likely not happen, but it gives me something to hope for.

AWESOME eyes. Just wanted to get that out there. AWESOME. Which might help in the whole Edward needs to fall in love with me like now campaign.

That jumping off the balcony/veranda thing was absolutely insane. And I loved every motherliving second of it.

Alice could see me in a vision. Not really sure how this will help me out, but hey. At least _she's_ happy. Because Pix is scary. As I hope I've mentioned for the billionth time.

And really? Moonlight _was_ like getting high (health benefits, side-effects aside) and it felt really, really great.

Phew. Well that is quite a few logical, amazing, completely convoluted reasons of reasoning. I might as well be up on Cloud Nine right now. Except that there were no fucking clouds in the sky and the moon setting was sorta kinda killing my buzz. Just slightly. Sort of.

Like I was saying, Cloud Nine. But all I'm getting up here is a very woozy sense of dizziness called the Vertigo of all vertigos because I keep looking down. Not up. Since there's not much up there to see. And there is quite a lot of shit going on below me so I think we all know where my priorities are right now.

On the ground. And I'm on a cloud. So that fucking sucks. What am I supposed to do? Jump off and plummet to my death, or more likely, despair? Uh-uh, honey. If being happy means losing all sense then I am _in._

And now I'm sinking with the moon in the sky and Alice is _still_ drawing who the hell knows what in the grass. And I'm babbling. Again.

Really, is this becoming a habit? Forget the vertigo, I'm walking circles on the ground now.

And the night went rose.

I watched, somewhat moodily, as the perfect inky black faded slightly on that little line called the horizon. It was becoming less starry, less silver, less Moon-ish. The line was now tinged with a bloody red, like the rusted liquid that is soaked up by the battlefield while people kill each other for no sensible reason. An orange that seemed to glow like the fires of hell. A purple pink bruise that would be worthy adorning the face of a dead man in a car crash. A gruesome sight, if I do say so myself.

Yeah, I was in a slightly macabre mood. Anybody normal would describe it as something sappy like 'the red of fresh tear-drop studded roses after the rain, an orange the color of marigolds in bloom, a purple-pink of coral in the deep blue seas'. Gee, these artsy types. What _shall_ we do with them?

Nothing, of course. But one can always hope to wonder. Or just STOP TALKING TO THEMSELVES.

"What did you say Bella?" Oh, whoops. Maybe mental conversations should be kept a little more um- mental. Or sane. Whichever fits your fancy.

Fits your fancy, tit for tat, floats your boat. Etc, etc.

I love little sayings like that.

And I would love to shut the hell up.

Alice was done twiddling the grass and we stood up as one, watching as the last of the lacy violet faded away. People seem to have a natural preference for the light, for the day. But, in all actuality, wasn't the night so much better? In the dark, you come to see those pinpoints of light that actually matter. They stand out and are made so much brighter because in the dark, one can actually learn to _see_, really see the world around them. And in the day, those pinpoints that you try so hard to focus on just melt into one big light bulb of fluorescence. And then you can't tell anything apart, can't see the good from the bad.

In the night, you see more clearly the light, the good.

And in the day… well in the day all you can seem to focus on is the dark shadows and corners. The bad things, because that's when they come to play; when the sun holds domain over the sky and the moon hides behind the earth.

I watched the light give birth to another day, and the dying of another night. And all I could do was stand and stare, hands on my hips, at that bloody horizon.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Alice's voice cut through the thick silence. The entire forest was seemingly holding its breath as we watched the sunrise. I nodded, agreeing with her. It was. In its own, sick twisted way.

I sighed and turned away from the rising sun, "I think it's about time that we get back to the house. I want to see if… well if everything's back to normal. Or maybe not normal."

She smirked at me and then her eyes lost their dreamy look and got a sort of melancholy glaze to them, "Your eyes are back to normal. Sigh, and your blood smells less musky, more like it did yesterday when we uh, picked you up from school," I snorted at that.

"Yeah, sure," I was smirking now, did she really just say sigh? , "You _picked me up_ while unconscious and unwilling. How nice of you."

She pouted at me, "Shut up! You know you liked it," insert rolling of eyes, "and guess what? I bet you're back to your stupid premonitionary blank spot status again! Gah, that pisses me off!" I smirked again, because really, what else was I supposed to do?

"Sigh, and I was just getting to the good part," Wait what? Did she just say sigh _again_?

"Wait what?" Alice's eyes lost their puppy dog run over by a car routine and moved right onto the cat/canary thing.

"Oh, you know. When I was sitting there humming, I was a little busy with our newfound development. And I was _just_ getting onto some rather juicy visions concerning you and a certain bronze-haired, emo brother of mine. I was _almost_ at the part where some action started up between the two of you. And I was sure that there would be some…scenarios…that you would be rather interested in," Oh, fuck you Pixie. You can die in hell.

Or you can search that demented brain of yours that will assure my lady parts that they will be getting some attention from the gene pool extraordinaire in the near future.

**Bella. We will not be around forever. Do you want us to shrivel up and die before we get a piece of that? **

My subconscious, in the manifestation of this Kristen Stewart chick that a lot of people said looked like me, was quietly scolding me and the Pixie in the deep, dark recesses of my mind. It's not my fault! There is nothing I can do about it-

Wait a second.

My deadly and deeply disappointed scowl transformed into what I hoped was an innocent expression worthy of Bambi. It was time to use my traitorous gift for something that might give me some _insurance_.

"Wow, Alice. I just noticed that beautiful necklace you're wearing. Like, oh my gosh, it so totally matches your awesome outfit perfectly! Like, seriously, you were _made _for that!" I was all gooey, slimy, sucking up harder than a vacuum cleaner voice and doe-eyes. Ali didn't stand a chance.

"Really? You think so? I always wear it; Jazzy bought it for me after our 297th wedding. It was so sweet," Alrighty then. That's a lot of weddings.

"Wow, you guys are married?! I mean, I get that you are soul mates and so totally perfect for each other, but you're married? Like, wow. That's so delish. And what a beautiful necklace he got you! Do you mind if I touch it?" She shook her head no as she soaked up all my blubbery praise like a sponge in a water tank. I reached out my hand to trace the diamond inlaid heart necklace that was about the size of my index finger's second knuckle. I 'oohe'd' and 'ahhe'd' at the damn expensive thing, and then ever so lightly let my pinky finger come into access with her collarbone.

_I remember the night Jazzy got this for me, oh wow! He was wii-ild!_

Uck, eww. Disgusting. I just barely suppressed my violent shudders. Instead, I decided to do a little more sweet-talking.

"So you two are soul mates, right? And so are Emmet and Rosalie? What about Edward?"

_Actually, Bella would be a great match for him. And when I was looking at them earlier, I couldn't help but get the sense of extreme attraction and, shockingly, affection! From Edward! TOWARDS A GIRL! Wow! That was something alright…_

'_Edward waking up with a bleary eyed, adorable look on his face. Then mussing his hair and staring dotingly, lovingly, at the human shaped lump next to him on the bed. The lump's brown hair fanned across the pillow and she mumbled sleepily. It was Bella.'_

_Such a cute little vision of those two. I bet Bella would die to know-_

_Wait!_

Alice pulled back from me sharply and let out a little squeak of outrage.

"Bella!" She was trying out a weird combination of a pout and a glare. You know, the pout that was patented by the original Daddy's Little Girl, and the glare that could cut diamonds.

It was a very effective combination.

"Hehe…um…" the stare was rendering me speechless, which was probably the opposite of what little Alice wanted. I smiled sheepishly, hoping it might work if I looked a little shame-faced.

Yeah, not working.

"Jeez Bella, you must be such a considerate person. I explicitly tell you that I don't want you to know something and you can't respect my privacy? And I thought that we were friends!" Her eyes started tearing up at that point. Oh shit.

"Alice! I was just curious about Edward and me and what you said, I didn't mean to disrespect you like that! I mean, of course we're friends…" My voice faded away, because really, what was the point of finishing my statement when the bipolar chick was done almost crying and moving on to the smirking stage?

"Oh. So you were curious about the _romantic _possible future between you and Edward? Admit it, you _so_ like him!" I blushed crazily and turned away from her shit eating grin.

"I never denied it," the pathetic mumble did nothing but make the She-Devil smile even wider and chuckle conspiratorially. But then her chuckle cut off abruptly and she enacted a full blown glare fest.

Holy shit. How am I still alive and not just a pile of ashes on the ground yet?

"I can accept you crush on Eddie but Bella? If we are to be friends, then you must try to respect my privacy. One mind reader is enough, I really don't need you to start trespassing too," I nodded, apologetically. It must suck living around Edward and not having a mental shield. I would probably die of embarrassment if he even had an inkling of what was going on in my mind around him most of the time.

_Shudder. No thinky like that Bella._

Alice's eyes seemed to cloud over again… She didn't look happy or pouty or angry right then she kind of looked… unsure?

"And Bella? We are friends right?" her tone was cautious, prodding.

"Of course we are Alice, why wouldn't we be?" I smiled at her, encouragingly, I hoped.

"Well," she looked away from me and at the sun which was halfway over the line, "I've always been able to tell whether or not I would be friends with someone if I wanted to. You know, looking into the crazy future and all that. And I've always been confident because I've been 95% percent sure of what was about to happen. But with you, well it's like I'm hitting a concrete block. I can't tell how we're going to turn out, because even when the moon's up and I can see you? I can't search for you. Visions just come to me on their own and I can't control them. I don't know what's going to happen with you, Bella. And that scares me," she smiled at me in a sad, self-deprecating way.

"How sad is that? I can barely function around you because I'm not sure of how you'll turn out," she grimaced then, "Gosh, how do you people stand it? I hate surprises!" I burst out laughing. Of course, Alice was pissed off because she had to react to me in the way any normal person would. She obviously hated being clumped into a category with everyone else.

She caught my eye and giggled along with me. We were like two girls gossiping over a hot guy in our class after he winked at us. It was disgustingly girly.

And I couldn't give a shit.

We were still giggling like schoolgirls when we heard a rustling noise in the bushes. We stopped abruptly and tensed, but then relaxed as we saw the golden eyes walking into the clearing. Esme, Emmet, and Carlisle. Emmet and Carlisle seemed to be holding onto something, or should I say someone.

Edward.

His green eyes were slitted and slightly crazed, his body tense like a spring. He was clenching and unclenching his fists and he was looking at me, his nostrils flaring, trying to take in my scent.

Well, we can obviously tell that my blood was back to normal.

Because I'm a sick masochistic motherfucker, Edward's crazy blood-lusting face was making me kind of… hormonal. _If_ you know what I mean.

His eyes opened really wide as he caught sight of me, and his mouth seemed to hang open for a second before he got control of himself. His eyes burned brighter than ever, and then they just _smoldered_.

**Abort, abort! Back away while your girly bits are still intact and fireproof. Well maybe not fireproof…there is quite a burn going on down there...**

_Kristen, shut the fuck up. I'm not going anywhere._

**I am not Kristen Stewart. I look like her, but really, I'm not. I'm you. But when addressing me, you may call me Alleb. Get it? Bella spelled backwards?**

…_._

**Fine then. Call me Little B.**

I pulled out of my head and back into reality; Little B still encouraging me to turn and run while my legs were still in their pre-Jell-O state. What can I say? Edward was turning me into a girly mass of goo again. I was like a piece of ice cream on a steak grill when he came a-callin'.

"Heh, so, Edward. I'm guessing I smell uh, good? Again." His jaw tensed and he nodded, in a really slow dramatic way.

Up went the perfect jaw line. Pause. Jerk down in a graceful maneuver. Impressive.

I blushed, because really, even when wanting to kill me, he was adorable. In a hot non-three year old way. I'm not that sick.

Although, a three year old Edward probably would look adorable. If he had kids, I bet they'd be stunning. I can see it now; him chasing after a stumbling toddler with bronze hair and green eyes and a little baby girl giggling in his arms. A little baby girl with brown hair and his green eyes. Brown hair just like me-

**Whoa. Are you fantasizing what Edward's kids would look like…with **_**you**_** as the mother? Do you have any maternal instincts anyways? Like, at all? And you've known him for what? A month? And you want to have his **_**babies??**_

_SHUT. UP. Little B. I was just fantasizing what his kids would look like and they ended up looking somewhat like me, and no, that is not weird, at all. Not. At. All._

**You're sure about that? I mean, who would trust you of all people to hold a baby? You'd drop it on its head! And if you had children, you'd run the risk of handing some of your rather peculiar genetic traits along to them. **

_They aren't genetic traits! I like to believe that Renee dropped me into a nuclear vat of radioactive material when I cried as an infant._

**Yeah, that's what happened. Definitely.**

_Have it your way. I like my way better._

Wow. When did I grow a conscience? Just recently? Because it hadn't ever been so talkative before. Very chatty, Little B was. And I am completely insane, what with conversations in my own head.

Okay, back to the…situation…at hand.

Edward + bloodlust= I will be lucky to survive this man. Lucky, lucky, lucky.

"Erm, yeah. It appears to be that way," Esme was looking back and forth between the two of us in a worried manner.

"Yeah, Edward wants to _eat_ Bella. _Don't _you Eddie-poo?" Everyone fell into a rather awkward silence, except, of course, Emmet; he _had_ been the one to make that statement after all. I was blushing beet red, Esme was staring disapprovingly at the man mountain, Carlisle actually rolled his eyes, and Edward didn't even seem to hear him.

He just stared at me again. I enjoyed it very much.

"Emmet," Edward's eyes were dangerous emerald slits and his teeth were gritted, "are you _really_ going to joke about the fact that I am turning into a monster and can't seem to control my previously nonexistent bloodlust while in _present company?_" He was trying to glare at Emmet but didn't seem able to look away for me, so he tried a side glare. Which Emmet, being completely and wholly oblivious, disregarded unintentionally.

"Um, yeah. I am. Bella doesn't mind. She doesn't have a stick up her-" he stopped real fast at the sound of Esme, violently clearing her throat, "Oh, I mean, Bella doesn't mind because she's cool…like that." Pathetic save. Absolutely pathetic.

Oh well, at least Esme was happy.

Edward and I sighed simultaneously. Which got Emmet to smirk between the two of us with the exact same expression on his face as his sister Alice. I could see the devious resemblance between the two of them: same toothy grin, same sparkling eyes brimming with glee, same posture that just screamed for some scheming hand rubbing and 'mwahaha's.

Nice to know they look the most similar while in the midst of plotting evil schemes. Just lovely.

And speaking of scheming, I just had an absolutely brilliant idea.

"Here, look," everyone looked at me, which obviously was the intention of my aforementioned words, "I think that Edward and I should spend some time together today. Not alone of course, but at least within some proximity to each other," the others were watching me, bewilderedly and confusedly but listening all the same, "I think that it will be easier for him to resist my _scent_," insert glare at Emmet, "if he gets used to it." Edward was tenser than ever, but he nodded his head to communicate he understood.

"Yes, actually, I was thinking the same thing. Spending some time around Bella might help me out. And maybe tonight her blood will change again," I wasn't really listening at that point. I kind of tuned out when he said he agreed with me.

_Edward wants to spend time with me! Eeeeekkk!!!_

**What are we now? Twelve years old? He wants to spend time with you so he can get used to the smell of your blood and try to not eat you.**

_He still wants to spend time with me!!  
_

My inner cheerleader waltzed around, poms held high, screeching in her most spirity voice: "It's not a lot, but it's all we've got. I'll take it while he's still hot! Edward said he wants to be by us, that's more than any other guy does! E to the D and we add a WARD. Edward gets the hottie award!"

Yeah. She has a lot of work to do on that one. But what can I say?

That really is all we've got.

My head was sort of bobbing to the incessant tune of my brain's victory cheer when I happened to look up. And in my face was the Pixie herself.

"What are you doing?" Her eyes sparkled with amusement. I looked behind her to see an empty clearing.

"Nothing. Nothing at all. So, where'd Edwa- I mean the others go?" Pixie smirked again. Then she took in a huge gulp of air, ballooned her cheeks almost comically, and let the air whoosh out dramatically.

"Sigh. If you must know, they went that way," her perfectly coiffed fingernail pointed in the direction of which I could hear quite a loud amount of huffing, snarling, laughing, and puffing. And then, the best one of all, was what I could assume was Emmet.

There was a humungous crash, a growl, and the most perfect laughter God or any other deity had ever created (Edward of course).

"What. The. Fuck. Edward! I keep your pansy ass from jumping the girl you would like to kill and suck dry. And you repay me like this? Nuh-uh brother! I don't think so!" There was more growling and some tumbling noises. Then more perfect laughter.

"What do you mean, Em?" I could hear that delicious chuckle. And then, now I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure that I heard him smirking. I _heard_ him smirk. And it was sexy as all hell.

"What do you mean, Em?" Emmet mocked in a falsetto voice, "I mean you telling me about Rosalie waiting for me at home with no clothes, my favorite Victoria Secret and Playboy magazines, a few Cosmo tricks up her nonexistent sleeve seeing as she is naked, and a big fat, juicy steak! And then, right when I get all excited, you tell me that no, this is not true. You tell me, that in reality, Rosalie is not _naked_, she is fully clothed in church regalia (although_ why_ she persists in going on a Saturday is fully incomprehensible to me), a prayer book for the Mass, not Cosmo tricks but a lot of ideas on how she's going to kick my ass because I went with you to check on Bella instead of staying with her, and not a juicy steak, but a _steak knife_. And _then,_ when I am shocked and scared beyond belief, standing stock still, you have the audacity to _trip_ me. Trip me! The nerve!"

Dead silence. And then, another voice, chocked with laughter.

"Emmet," I was pretty sure it was Carlisle talking, "you do realize that you just used the words regalia, incomprehensible, and audacity in the same paragraph, don't you?"

"Yeah," this was Edward, his velvet voice laced with mock-awe, "I didn't even know you knew what those words _meant, _let alone the fact that they existed!"

Edward let out a rather girlish huff, obviously affronted.

"I am affronted!"

You see?

"Do you know what 'affronted' means?" Wow, even Esme was joining in on the fun.

"No. Esme," his tone went bitingly sarcastic, "I don't know what it means! Because affronted so obviously means that I am hungry or something ridiculous like that! Affronted, synonym to offended, to be insulted and/or ridiculed purposely," now I could hear _Emmet_ smirking.

"Rosie bought me a dictionary for Christmas so I would stop calling her 'hot' and 'smokin'. She told me, and I quote, that 'should you ever want to see my hot, smoking body, as you so like to call it, again, I insist that you learn other terms for it. I am sick of hearing you say what a nice rack I have, Emmet! They are not boobs, or chest mounds, or my little chicas! They are BREASTS!'" He ended it with a loud, squealing, breathless voice. Once again, silence.

And then, I couldn't help it, I really couldn't, I burst out laughing. Loud echoing guffaws, snorts, wheezes, grunts, and choking. There were tears in my eyes and I very nearly peed my pants.

Yeah, I'm very much like an immature seventh grade adolescent boy whose voice breaks at the end of the sentence. Or at least I have the mind of one. I swear, seventh graders are _bad_. When I was a 'sevie', as the jerkish eighth graders called us, any guy in my class would burst out laughing if you said 'come', 'sausage', or 'kitty'. I kid you not. And it went on until high school.

**You were almost as bad… and still are…**

_Tell me, when did I give you a voice or any permission to speak me? _

**Oh, you had no need for a conscience like me. Not until yesterday at least. And I'm real, Bella. I'm not a voice you're making up in your mind. The moon unlocked me from your mind because you will need me to help guide you on your journey…**

_Wait, you really are real? Really?_

**Well, I AM you…**

Huh. Oh well. Back to reality.

I was still clutching my gut and gurgling convulsively, like a ninety year old on meds. How charming. Thankfully, I wasn't the only one laughing. Alice was sprawled out in the grass, her tinkly snorting noises echoing off the surrounding trees. And I could hear the others laughing as they walked further in the forest.

A deep, rich chuckle. A smooth, airy giggle. A loud, rock cracking guffaw, and the beautiful velvety hiccup every now and then.

Gosh, even their laughter is a species all its own. As is mine.

When their laughter had faded completely into the distance, and Alice and I had finally stood up, the sun was hanging in the sky. Just barely over the tops of the trees. I sighed, wishing again for the night and the moon, and then I yawned.

"Hey Bella, we should probably follow them back," Alice smiled at me , "You, my friend, look exhausted." I yawned again.

"Wha- what are you talking about? I'm fi-ine…" Pixie shook her head exasperatedly. I can be difficult when I choose to.

"C'mon Bella. I you yawn any wider, you might invite some birds in to build a nest." I tried to roll my eyes but they weren't wide enough to do anything but squint blurrily at my surroundings. Ok, maybe I was a little tired. Just a little.

Then I promptly passed out on the ground.

I heard a screech, a thump, felt a stinging pain at the back of my head, and then everything went black.

Eh, just a little tired.

………………………………………….~ C ~…………………………………………...

The next thing I knew, I was rolling around in a piece of heaven. Really, I thought I was on cloud nine before, but this was so soft it could only be a cloud. Maybe I died and was on my way to heaven.

I know, I know. What a surprise!

And it was magnificently silent. I felt warm and cozy, and I decided to open my eyes. Ready? One, two, three, open!

I was in some kind of guest room. Some kind of huge, elaborate, extremely cozy looking guest room. The cloud I was laying on was really a humongous bed. I was under a soft, heavy, golden comforter and their were a bunch of fluffy pillows stacked around me. There was a dresser table next to the bed with my backpack and my headphones on it. I lunged for the headphones in a pathetic, lazy, very un-lunging way, and to my delight, found a full battery. I hadn't charged it in about three days, and yet the thing was running like it was hot off the computer.

I pushed the earbuds in and every tense muscle in my body (which was about two muscles) relaxed when the sound of Dave Matthews started waltzing through my music starved brain. Dave Matthews was a god, and his song, "Two Step"? Pure musical goodness. It was better than chocolate.

Which means it was really, super awesome, soul filling, amazing, goodness.

I bobbed my head to the catchy beat as I stared around the room, still refusing to get out of the heavenly bed. There was a mahogany dresser and closet like from Narnia, in the left corner of the room. There were windows directly across from me, they were covered with blood red drapes and creamy blinds, so only a tiny bit of sunlight crept into the room. The buttercup-yellow walls were bare and the floor was carpeted. A white door was on the right wall, and another door was on the left. Well let's try out the right door first.

I put my foot down on the warm coffee colored carpet, and crept across it. It was like silk beneath my feet and it masked any noise I would have otherwise made. I even managed to trip and I didn't hear a sound.

What I would give for a carpet like this all over my house.

I made my way sneakily (pshh, yeah right) and stealthily (hahah) to the door and pushed it open cautiously. Thankfully it didn't creak. I found myself looking into a bathroom. A pristine, marble, also enormous bathroom.

There was giant glass surrounded shower, a large Jacuzzi tub, a toilet of course, a white-bowl sink with silver knobs, and a mirror right over the sink. The tiled floor was shiny and white, and it scared the shit out of me.

Shiny tiled bathroom floors spelled disaster for a super klutz like me.

So, since I was doing my best to not be heard (I don't know why), I got down on my hands and knees and crawled over to the mirror. I stood up after making sure my hands were holding me up using the sink. I finally was able to gain my barely-there balance and then I looked up. Slowly.

And in the mirror I saw something shocking.

Me.

My hair was all over the place. I looked like I had been hit with a lightning bolt. My eyes were back to their boring as mud appearance and sat atop some of the largest bags I had ever seen. They were even bigger than that Black Hole bag I brought with me on my way to Forks!

My cheeks were ruddy with color and I looked like I had a fever. I felt fine, so it might have just been the heat of the room and my constant rolling around in bed. I can't stay still when I sleep, it's just not possible.

I smacked my lips together and found that my mouth tasted like horse crap. Lovely. I grimaced and wished fervently for a toothbrush.

I looked down mournfully.

And my little red savior was sitting innocently in plastic packaging right next a sealed tub of toothpaste.

Huh. That was nice.

After the packaging was dealt with, and my smelly mouth was cleaned out rigorously with a toothbrush, I searched in vain for a hairbrush. But, with my lucky hair tie around my wrist, I managed to make myself look halfway presentable. I washed my face, dried it, got on my hands and knees, and crawled my way back out of the bathroom. My clothes smelled bad, like really bad, so I walked to the dresser with fervent prayers.

And opened the drawers with fervent thanks.

There were undergarments, shirts, tank tops, jeans, shorts, sweaters, socks, and shoes aplenty. And taped to the top of the dresser was a note.

You can tell me how amazing I am later. And do not, I repeat, DO NOT wear any of the baggy shirts or pants I have tucked in there. They are to be worn when in the room only, never while in anyone else's company, especially mine. Try out the jean shorts and the KISS band tee. It's Edweird's favorite. ;)

Alice Mary Medici Hale Cullen

I scowled at her very obvious ploy. I mean, anybody could have found this and probably easily deduced, unless they were Emmet, that I would _want_ to impress Edward. But then my scowl morphed into a goofy smile at the fact that he liked KISS and then I was laughing. Alice's choice name, Edweird, was phenomenal. I'd have to try that out sometime. I pulled out the suggested clothes plus underwear, a bra, socks, and my Converse, which were on top of the dresser, and got ready. I felt better already. The KISS tee and the shorts felt comfortable and I was cozy as a coffee joint. I felt happy, excited, calm, and tense at the thought of what was ahead. A whole day with Edward. I know, how many conflicting emotions can one teenage girl's body hold?

Quite a lot, apparently. And all for someone who is about six hundred years old.

I'll take what I can get.

I looked at Alice's note again, the elegant writing, the joking words, and the signature. Well, the Hale was obviously for being married to Jasper, and the Cullen was obviously for her family. Which could only mean that her original surname, the one she and Emmet shared, was Medici. How pretty. How Italian.

I am also guessing she only signs 'Alice Cullen' at school. Any sign of a Hale in there and people would be a little suspicious as to the marital status and age of the Pixie.

I walked to the door, my iPod now belting out some Bon Iver tunes, as I imagined the Forks' High students' reaction if they found out all that I knew. I opened up the door right when I got to the part where Jessica Stanley started running screaming and lost her balance because of her humongous head when I crashed into a warm body.

I started to fall backwards before the warm body's arms came around me.

_Took you long enough to wake up._

I raised my head and came eye to Adam's apple with someone I was pretty sure wanted to kill me. And then my eyes went up farther, looking into a pair of green eyes.

"Uh, uh…. Are you okay?" His eyes crinkled and his arms tightened around my waist.

_Yeah, I'm good. But shouldn't it be me asking _you_ that question._

"Oh, I'm fine, thanks. But, um, how is your…._situtation._" He smiled at me again.

_Oh, that. Well you're still alive aren't you? It's eight at night Bella, the moon's up and it's not full. But you're blood is still different to me._

"Damn," I sighed before looking up to catch his reaction. He was staring at me wide-eyed. And then he was laughing.

"What do you want me to kill you?"

_What's going on in that mind of yours?_

He stepped back, still chuckling, and I just stared up at him, wishing for his arms around me.

"No, it's just I slept through the whole day, didn't I?" He nodded at me.

I blushed.

Because I was really thinking about our earlier agreement. We were going to spend more time together today!

**Um, yeah, except he would have wanted to see you on a menu that entire time. Right now, he sees you as a person. Not a steak fillet.**

_Yeah, but now we only have limited time together now!_

**You're in **_**way **_**over your head, you know that, right?**

_Yes I know that, I've dived head first into the _Twilight Zone.

**Do you regret it?**

_Hell to the no._

**I give up on you. I. GIVE. UP.**

_You lost the battle WAY before you had a voice, sister. Get with the program Little B._

And that was the most honest thing I had thought to myself yet.

Well, the moon's back. Let's get this party started.

* * *

You like? Love? Hate :(?

Tell me on a scale of 1 to 10 how this chapter was for you (1 being terrible, 10 being terrific). I know I wasn't really going anywhere with it, it's more of a 'setting the stage' chapter.

We all hate them. But we won't go anywhere without them.

And did you see how they've changed the REVIEW button to a little bubble thing? I miss the button. It's more fun to click on. But whatever, I'll take what I can get.

Muchas gracias. (I hope I spelled that right. I'm good with ENGLISH not Spanish. SO Sorry.)

Edweird and Little B are counting on you to keep them alive. Please do so. We would appreciate it.


	12. Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide

Hey yuppies, how's it going? I know a lot of you might have been a little bored with the last chapter, but no worries. I've got another package of drama waiting to be opened right here.

Disclaimers: I AM NOT SM. I AM JUST A RANDOM FANFIC WRITER.

Read on my homies;]

* * *

The warm arms around me, the hard body in front of me, the sweet velvet voice in my head, the forest green eyes, and that damn crooked smile were turning me into the biggest puddle of girl you had ever fucking seen.

Ever.

And I was so damn glad that this hot as hell Hybrid demigod was not able to tell what exactly was on my mind at that exact moment in time. I would just die, just die of embarrassment…

**I wouldn't! I **_**wish **_**he could read our mind! Then we might be able to seduce him! Or at least, maybe I would. YOU would be blushing your face off so hard there'd be steam coming out of your ears. **

_Shut up! I would not! _

**You sooo would…**

Eh, who was I to argue. It was extremely true. And with that being said, or more accurately, thought, I will have to forego this thrilling conversation within my mind. Little B was getting a little too confident for my liking.

And I think that she and I had to agree on the fact that there were some way more important things to be dealing with right now.

Like the fact that I just noticed that Edward had let go of me. I freaking pouted, I'm not lying; I _pouted! _Me, Bella Swan! Pouting!

Huh, I guess that 2012 thing might actually be a little more possible than I thought.

**Maybe we could spend our last seconds on Earth as we know it nibbling on those beautifully sculpted…**

_Yessss…_

**Perfectly succulent…**

_Amazingly lickable…_

**Damn gorgeous god-like eyebrows!**

Wait what? Did my conscience just admit that it, I mean I, want to lick Edward's eyebrows? I was going in the lips direction but now that we mention it….

No, bad Bella. You're obsessed, and stalkerish, true, but there is no reason to jump into a whole new realm of extremely worrying tendencies. We're still trying to adjust to the realm of freakiness we've managed to skip into _right now_. No need to fall any farther down the rabbit hole.

Or den. Whatever it was.

I forced myself to pull out of my head again and looked up to see that bronze hair. And the back of that bronze head. Damn, turn around Edward; I want to see your pretty face…

His head whipped around, like he knew what I had just thought, and that made me blush even harder than I had been recently. I swear, Edward and blushing go hand in hand. They're like best friends now.

Edward threw me a sheepish smile (not sure why exactly it was sheepish, if anyone should look sheepish it should be me) and held out his hand. Then he seemed to think better of it, and tried to pull it back in a hopelessly obvious failing at being nonchalant. And that made me sad, the fact that he didn't want to touch me. And that surprised me.

The sad part, not the touching part. That made complete sense.

I mean, usually I _avoid_ making skin contact. My body just twists and turns until it can wedge itself into a dark corner where nobody can annoy it. And here I was, wanting someone to reach out to me and be the one to initiate the contact. Not backing into a corner but avoiding that corner. Here I was, disappointed because I wasn't, at the moment, inside this boy's mind. And I so badly wanted to be.

So very badly.

Edward was an enigma. He was different. And it didn't freak me the hell out. No, the fact that Edward had to deal with what I did and on a more regular basis, just made me want to give him a hug. Well, maybe I just wanted to give him a hug, telepathic abilities aside. But before I could start plotting ways in which I could justify myself giving Edward a hug, he was motioning with his hand that I should follow him. And follow I did.

What a nice view.

I pulled my gaze from Edward's beautifully jean-clad ass (yes, I can admit that I was staring), because I have the worst luck in the world and I would appreciate not being caught and being made a fool of. Jesus geese-ducking Christ knows I need even more embarrassment than I already have currently endured…

By the way, I'm being sarcastic.

So yeah, following Edward and that beautiful behind of his. But trying not to look at that behind. _Trying _being the operative word. But there was plenty to distract me from his figure, so I let myself be distracted. By a lot of trivial stuff.

The hallways we were walking down seemed endless. You know, how hotel hallways seem to go on forever and after five minutes of walking you can almost just see the end of the hallway? Yeah, it was like that. Well, maybe not. I wasn't really looking for an end to the hallway because that would require looking past Edward. Which I refused to even try.

So these endless/maybe not so endless hallways were better decorated than said hotel halls. The wallpaper was a light mahogany color, warm and inviting, with tones of gold and cream. There were random paintings along the walls, all of them depicting scenes in nature. But there was one in particular that really caught my attention. One that caught my attention because it was the only painting in the hallway that depicted human figures.

Or maybe not human, exactly.

I stopped, bringing my eyes to the beautifully created picture. I heard a rustle of movement next to me as I stopped to examine it, but I was too focused to care. Too focused, because something inside of me was reacting to this very image.

The painter displayed a marble and cream balcony, looking out to something. The tops of heads, cloaked in blood red hoods, could be seen at the very bottom fringes. The balcony was, obviously, attached to a building that was set in the exact same creamy marble. But that warm cream color did nothing, absolutely nothing, to mask the underlying cold, hard structure of the blue-veined marble. Blue veins like those on the arm, red cloaks like the color of the blood those veins pour out when they are penetrated, cream like the color of your skin as a knife sinks into it deeper, waiting to be stained crimson and blue…

_No. Never again. We don't see that anymore, we can't see that anymore. It's over now._

I shook my head, dispelling the disturbing images. And focused on the gold frame above me. I saw the blue sky, cloudless, and dry. And above the balcony were the words that made me shiver.

_Potere sopra il vivere, potere sopra i morti. Potere di governare questo mondo ed il prossimo. Potere per il beneficio del potere._

What did they mean? What could they mean? I turned to Edward.

"What do those words mean? What do they say? Tell me, please, I need to know." My voice was frantic, scared. And not from the words, but from the last images I refused to process at the moment. Edward gave me a curious, worried stare. Then he sighed and turned to the phrase hanging so threateningly in the air above the balcony.

"It's Italian, the motto of the Millicent: _Power over the living, power over the dead. Power to govern this world and the next. Power for the benefit of the power._" I shook my head, mouthed the words. Power. Over the living and the dead, this world and the next? Because _they _were immortal, of course; I had suspected but now I was sure.

"What does it mean?" My voice was a whisper. And Edward's lowered too as he turned away from the phrase and back to me. He took my hand.

_It means that they are the most powerful, that they are in charge. They are playing God and they believe that they are God. And if you resist their powers, if you resist _them_, you die. They decide who lives and who dies; they decide whether you will spend your next day here among the living, or discovering what it is like to know the dead.. It means, Bella, that they have complete control. And everybody had better know it._

And, against my will, my eyes slid down to the figures on the balcony; the things that had made me turn to this portrait in the first place. That shock of recognition, of remembering, hit me with the full force of a hurricane as I stared back into their eyes.

Their eyes, swimming in crimson and rose. Eyes the color of blood.

At the very forefront of the balcony, the focus point, was a tall man. His severely straight, combed back, and pristinely oiled hair fell down to his narrow shoulders. His back was straight and his body faced to the right. His neck and face turned towards the front, his body turned in the other direction; like he was too important to face the crowd head on, cutting all the bullshit and just stating the facts. One eyebrow was raised slightly but the rest of his face seemed to be blank. Although it was failing at being blank. Even though this was a remake of the scene, I could see clearly the unbridled malevolence in those deep red eyes. And those eyes…those eyes! Something about them seemed so, so…

Familiar…

I moved on to the figure standing slightly behind this man and to the left; his hair was as straight and perfect as the other man's, his eyes were the same color, they were just as malevolent. But he didn't keep a blank expression, he looked down on the hoods before him with equal parts contempt and lust. But it wasn't sexual lust, oh hell no. He looked like a fat man at a free buffet at Disneyworld. He looked like that walrus from the Disney remake of Alice in Wonderland, the cartoon version. You know the Walrus? The one who takes all those cute, innocent, curious little oysters with their bonnets, dresses, and joyful expressions out of their home under the sea. And then they all skip out of the water with their free-floating feet and that carpenter dude makes a shed in about a minute. And you can't help but think that those oysters are so damn cute.

Then the poor oysters get eaten by the big, fat, scary looking, evilly grinning Walrus while the carpenter is preparing the soup. I very well almost bawled my eyes out when I saw all those little forlorn, empty, scraped clean and shiny oyster shells.

But yeah, this guy looked like the Walrus. Times ten and to the worst degree.

There was another figure behind Aro, standing farther back than Blondie and swathed in shadow. His hair was a grayish white, falling in soft waves to his shoulders, like the other two, but that was where the similarities ended. This guy didn't half face the crowd with superiority or full face the crowd with contempt and thoughts of his next meal. No, he wasn't even facing the crowd. All I could see was the very side of his murky profile: one eye, a side-view of his nose and lips, and his thin, bony body. But even though I couldn't see his whole profile, I could clearly see the agony in his expression, in his posture, in the way his eyes (or more accurately, eye) seemed glazed, as if he was seeing something far away. His mouth was set in a grim line, like he was trying to stop himself from screaming in pain. His back was stooped inward, trying in vain to keep himself from breaking into pieces. His left hand curled over the right side of his chest, over his heart. Like he was trying to cage it in, stop it from splitting wide open for the world to see. I winced at that expression, that complete baring of his obviously torn-apart soul, and then my finger landed on him.

And my mouth opened, almost against my will.

"That's Marcus," I tapped on the man who looked like he was being burned at the stake, "that's Cauis," I stabbed Blondie in his evil face, "and_ that_ is Aro," my finger wavered over the face of that one. Then I closed my mouth and turned to Edward.

And Edward was shocked.

"Wha- How did you? I mean, I know we told you their names but how did you know exactly which one was which?" I frowned at him, realizing that what he was saying was eerily true. Really, how did I know? And I wasn't guessing either, I just well…_knew._ I mean when I first heard of the Millicent and when I was first told their names, there was no recognition. No lightning bolt of clarity like when I saw that picture. It felt like I actually knew them, had seen them before. But that was ridiculous…

I shook my head again and shrugged at him. There was no way to explain it really; _I_ didn't even understand exactly what had just happened.

**Oh, but I do…**

What? What was that?

I decided that listening to voices in my head was a little overrated at the moment, especially if it was Little B trying to pull that mystical moony Jedi bullshit again. I mean, I was hoping that when the sunlight woke me up that maybe she would…

Wait a motherflipping second!

Ok, so the sun woke me up, right? But then Edward told me that it was eight at night and that moon was up… what the?

"Hey Edward, I must have woken up about a half hour ago, right? But you said it was eight at night when you saw me and there was sunlight in my room when I woke up. Or it looked like sunlight…" I suddenly frowned. The windows were draped and blinded so that only a sliver of light had crept into the room. But what if it wasn't sunlight? What if it was artificial light?

"Edward," my voice got really urgent all of a sudden, "what floor are we on right now?" He frowned all confused and adorably at me, his brow furrowing.

"Um, the first. Why?" He still looked really confused.

"So we're on the ground level right now? And it's really dark out, right? And the room I was sleeping in, the window is on ground level right?" My voice was becoming more panicky by the second, and I couldn't shrug off this urge that something was not right. In the very worst way. Edward's eyes were becoming wider by the second, he was looking more concerned as my voice got higher, shriller.

"Yes, yes, and yes. But what's the problem, Bella? You can tell me," he watched me anxiously as I took a deep breath to try and dispel the panic and alarm that was bubbling up inside of me.

"Ok, when I woke up I thought that the sun was still up because I saw a little bit of sunlight poking into my room. But then you told me that it was eight at night and that the moon was up. So how could I have seen sunlight? Unless, it wasn't really sunlight. Maybe it was someone outside my window with a flashlight, trying to see their way in," Edward's entire body tensed, he grabbed my hand, and then we were racing down the corridor. He turned left and pulled me through a doorway into the kitchen again. Everyone was still in there chatting away and talking, but all conversation ceased when we entered the room. The tension was thick in the air and my face was tight with fear.

_They know, they know, they know, they know… what if they know? Who else would be here at this time and place, trying to get into _her_ window? Who else?_

"Alice! Do you see anything?" His hand held mine and his frantic thoughts ran around in his brain.

_This isn't good, if she's having visions of things like _that…

Edward let go of my hand and I was left to puzzle as he explained to his family members what was going on. He had asked Alice to look and he must have seen her vision in her mind. I mean, he can read minds, right? But then, if he was able to see it in his mind, if he was able to hear those voices in his head, wouldn't I be able to, also? If I was holding his hand and inside his mind, would I not be able to see into the minds of those around me as their thoughts floated through Edward's hand and to mine? It just didn't make sense.

Edward was obviously listening to Alice's thoughts. But I wasn't able to when I was holding his hand. I heard no thoughts but his own.

_Odd._

But before I could even hint at this very weird fact, I was pulled back to the situation at hand. Alice was pulling at my hand, insistently. Apparently a decision had been made while I was trying to figure shit out because there was nobody in the kitchen except for she and I.

_Follow me, Bella. We need to get you to safety._

She pulled me across the hall and into another room. Then she turned and locked the doors. Then she went to drape the windows but I stopped her. The moon wasn't completely full, just a tiny sliver was missing, but I still found it achingly beautiful. I couldn't bare it being covered or closed off from me, so I stepped into the pool of silver and felt the strength of it flow into my weary body. I seemed to crackle with electricity and I felt something absolutely feral take over me. Something animal.

"Alice," my voice was soft, deadly, "what did you see in your vision?" I heard her gulp behind me.

"There was a blonde man and a red haired woman standing at your window. They heard something and ran, but before they could get far they just…disappeared. It all went black. But before they went I could hear them saying something to each other…they said that 'she knows, he needs to' whatever that means. Then they were running and then they were gone.." she paused and waited. I sighed.

"What _else_ did you see?" I turned to her and grabbed her hand. Alice's large eyes met mine as her thoughts poured into me.

_They were going to go after you; they were going to go after Charlie. I knew it, and then they were gone. But Bella, Edward and the others were on their way to-_

I dropped her hand and felt the most extreme rage I had ever felt coarse through me. I couldn't believe that just five minutes ago I had been happy, and now the one person who really cared about me was in danger. I didn't care at the moment, whether or not I was in danger. I was locked in this little room while the Cullens went to save my father. And I was done being weak, I was done being helpless.

So I turned and crashed through the window.

Alice's scream fell around my ears like the shards of glass, twinkling and spinning around in the moonlight. The reflection of my crazed eyes spun around me and I felt like I was underwater, swimming towards the surface and the light. A growl tore its way up my throat and then I was running on all fours, loping towards the trees and into the trees. I was following something, a sickly sweet scent carried on the wind. I followed it, running through its cloud and focused on my breathing.

Ragged breath in, snorting breath out, it felt like the air was clawing down my throat and tearing into my body, its little voice urging me on as I ran, ran, ran. The shadows of the trees overhead created little rips and holes in the moonlight so that I felt like I weaving my way through the night and its ragged cloth. Breath in, exhale. Oxygen and carbon dioxide, pushing me towards whatever was threatening my family. I hit a particular dense cloud of the perfume and then I knew, I was sure, that they were close by; the threat. I sped up until ahead of me were three figures. I recognized that they were Edward, Emmet, and Carlisle somewhere in the back of my mind, so with another burst of speed I pulled ahead of them and focused on the next two figures I could see.

Yellow and red; fires and blood. A savage, guttural bark sped out of my mouth, following after them. I could smell the fear on them, the confusion. What was that noise? But they didn't look back, they just kept running. And so did I. And then, with a final effort of will, I was on their heels. I extended my arms so that they were spread eagled and I jumped. My forearms wrapped around their throats, my muscles bulging. They struggled against me, but I could barely feel it. The power of the moon was coursing through me and it was stronger than their feeble attempts to break free. I dimly realized that it was a female, the one with red hair, and a male, the one with blonde. But I didn't think beyond that.

_Threat, they are a threat. You must kill them. Kill, kill, kill._

My nails, so much sharper and deadlier now, sunk into the females face and I clawed out her eyes. She screamed.

_Kill, kill, kill._

I squeezed the male's neck and I could hear the vessels popping, collapsing upon themselves. Pop, pop, pop.

_Kill, kill, kill._

The female was still screaming. I ripped off her head. She screamed some more.

_Kill, kill, kill._

I smelled something…different. It was sweet, but not as sickeningly sweet as the scent I had been following. I looked down and saw a ghoulish red seeping from the female's neck. I sliced one nail around the broken neck of the male. It smelled _delicious. _Before I could even tell what I was doing, my teeth latched onto his neck and broke the skin. And a flow of pure ambrosia assaulted my senses.

_Drink, drink, drink, drink…_

I couldn't stop. It was just so, so, so good. The best thing I had ever tasted in my entire life. It was delicious, too good for any mortal to bear. I was afraid I might just die from the taste of it, but I couldn't care, couldn't bring it in me to tear away.

Then I looked up.

My teeth were still sunk into his neck and my hand was still holding the screeching severed head of his friend. But his eyes... his eyes were red, red like blood. Red like Aro's malicious eyes.

And they were absolutely terrified.

_What is happening, what is happening._

But that wasn't my voice anymore. It was his, in my mind.

And then the torrent of thoughts and feelings hit me like a battering ram. I had been ignoring them but they came to the forefront of my mind and shocked me enough to pull my teeth away from his neck. I let go of the woman, and I stumbled back. The female's body was trying to crawl its way back to the head, the eyes rolling back to their gaping sockets. And the slow, nearly silent world I had been submersed in was shattered with a loud gasp. My head snapped to the right, the blood on my lips trailing down my chin and staining my white skin crimson. Blood trickled down to the ground from his neck, from her neck, from my hands, and from my mouth; the ground soaked it up, drinking it in as greedily as I had done just moments before. And my eyes met green.

Edward, Emmet, and Carlisle were staring at me, horror upon their faces. They looked from me to the woman to the man. Then back again. They were shocked, they were scared, they were disgusted. I was numb. My body pulsed and I turned back to my victims as I heard their low moans. Pure agony was radiating through them. I could almost feel it. I choked back a gasp, just realizing what I had done. I turned back to the Cullens, my tears now joining the trails of blood.

Edward was the first to react.

He ran to me, pulled me into his arms. His crooning voice echoed in my mind and whispered in my ears.

_Bella, Bella, Bella. It's okay, don't worry, it will all be okay. Calm down Bella, calm down. It's all fine._

But it _wasn't _fine, it wasn't going to _be_ fine. I wasn't fine, I wasn't okay. I was a monster, an abomination. I had wanted to be a killer, I had wanted to kill. How was anything fine? How was anything alright? I sobbed harder, the full horror of the last few minutes crashing into my body and detonating the numb until all that was left was shame, disgust, and pain. So much pain, so much pain. I whimpered and I cried and I screamed. I tried to kick Edward away, he shouldn't touch me. I wasn't clean, I wasn't _right_. How could he even look at me, knowing what I'd done?

I watched as Emmet and Carlisle picked up the battered vampires, because yes, they were vampires, and motioned to Edward. He picked me up, cradled me in his arms. His voice in my mind and in my ear was smooth, low. It did nothing to console me; it only made me hate myself more.

The journey was a blur of trees and shadows. I glimpsed light and I recalled voices but I was too caught up in my misery to really take notice. We were running, I was in Edward's arms, but I blocked out everything. I blocked out thoughts, words, whispers, and whimpers. I blocked out everything but the sound of my own breath as it scratched at my lungs and burned my insides. Oxygen and carbon dioxide, in and out, inhale and exhale, try to breathe. Soon we were slowing down, or maybe it was a long time after. I couldn't really tell; I didn't really have any concept of time and its passing, I just knew that we were approaching the house again and that they were more voices.

Frantic, calling. Alice, Rosalie, Jasper, and Esme.

"God, I'm so sorry! I tried to stop her, I swear! It was just… she was too fast, and I couldn't…" Alice broke off, her panicked explanation giving way to tears.

"Alice, it's fine. It's not your fault," Edward's voice was gentle, but his eyes were harder than stone as he looked at her.

_Bella, Bella, Bella. Isabella, please!_

I pulled out of my stupor as I saw Rose. Her eyes were wide and worried; Jasper was very obviously trying to hold himself together under the onslaught of emotions around him. Then I met Esme's eyes.

Pity. She was _sorry_ for me. And I didn't deserve her pity, I didn't deserve anything.

Then I was screaming and I was kicking. I seemed to look down on the scene as I rolled out of Edward's arms and tumbled to the ground. Then I was crouched in the corner, teeth bared, eyes wild, my body folding inward on itself. I growled and I cried and I whimpered. And the blood that was trying to dry on my face was washed away by my tears. I could feel it streaming, like morbid face paint streaked on my cheeks. I was an animal, a beast. I was no longer a human, or as close to a human as I was originally.

My body was coiled tightly, ready to spring away at a moment's notice. The others were silent and still, watching me carefully. Every movement they made was carefully coordinated and I could just feel the unease that rolled off of them. All of them, except for Jasper who was rocking on the ground in obvious pain, stood stock still, watching me, always watching.

It drove me insane.

I convinced myself that the emotions swirling in their eyes were contempt and horror. But before I could run away from their supposedly judging stares, my eyes were drawn to another low gasp. A whispered scream.

The red haired woman was clinging to the blonde man as they lay together on the ground. Their limbs were fixing themselves and they were in obvious discomfort. I don't know why, but I crawled toward them and got the most overwhelming urge to just touch them. Something, anything, to let them know that I was sorry. But as I got closer, their eyes snapped up and all I could see was fear. And I was crushed by self-loathing once again. I tried to back up, but my body was already half stepping towards them. I lost my balance and fell forward, my arms shooting out to catch myself and brushing up against two cold, marble like limbs.

_A young man, smiling as the blonde and blue eyed little boy tottered his first steps. A red haired woman, watching on the side with love just seeping through her gaze._

Flashes of moments, all blurry, of the same family: the toddler, the mother, and the father. Then a scream.

_The same toddler lay in an alleyway, drained of his blood, eyes wide and glassy, staring at nothing. The woman sobbing uncontrollably and the man screeching in pain. There was a low chuckle, chill inducing, from the back of the alley. A snow white hand dragged the boy's corpse into the darkness and then the same hand fell on the woman's ankle and dragged her into the shadows too. A scream, a sigh, a growl. Then the man was running and then he was screaming too. Another low chuckle, completely humorless, completely evil._

"_Why don't you hit me a little harder and see what happens? Did you break your hand? Oh, I didn't feel that..." then the chuckle was cut off as another figure jumped down from a roof and into the alley._

"_Don't you think that three's a bit much, Mirrikh? Why don't you share?" The voice was female and deadly. The male growled at her._

"_Why don't you just back off Vladis? Finder's keepers and I'm the finder you slut. There are plenty of humans to kill, so go get your own." Vladis's lip curled at him and she crouched._

"_Yes, but none smell as good as that man you have there," she pulled in a long breath and exhaled on a purr, "so you'll just have to give, whether you like it or not," her body tensed and she laughed mirthlessly, "and I'm not a whore you fucking bastard."_

_The vampires leaped at each other and rolled out of the alley, screeching and ripping. The dying man and woman grabbed on to each other and waited to pass on. The vampires didn't come back and the slain humans lay with their dead son, hoping to go with him. But they didn't die, they were changing. And three days later they awoke with a burning in their throats, a dead heart in their chests, and no recollection of the rotting child beside them._

More flashes of killing, of three men in cloaks looking on with sick joy, of humans' throats being ripped apart. I felt their whole life flit into my body, each memory soaked up and I couldn't pull my hand away. I screamed and I tried to move, but I couldn't. And before I could pull away, it faded. The blackness that had been lurking at the edges of my vision pounced until all that was left was the memories and the thoughts and the feelings. They took the place of the numb as I faded away into a world of darkness and insanity, falling into the depths of their hell.

I passed out for the second time that day, forest green invading my violated mind before the light was consumed.

Oxygen and carbon dioxide, flowing with the thoughts of the almost dead.

* * *

What's Bella done now?! If any of you are confused than you are sane. Because I'm confused too. But no worries, we're getting somewhere. Or we will eventually.

Check out that poll and see if you have any different views on Bella's...um, species.

Yeah, so I'm starting a new story on . Point Taken is my main priority right now, but this one was something I just couldn't get out of my head. It's called **But I Don't Want To Go Among Mad People **by **pencilitout**(me!) so if you're interested go read it. It's only one chapter and it shouldn't take you too long. I'm already working on the second.

Inspiring music- **30 Seconds to Mars; Fantasy**. I went to the concert and it was off the heezy!!!

Alright then, review if you love the Cheshire Cat and Edward's green eyes. LET'S SPREAD THE LOVE... AND MAYBE THE INSANITY.

BUT DON'T SPREAD THE STD'S. THAT'S JUST NOT COOL.

See ya later yuppies!!


	13. Bloody Iris

Hey everybody, just had a mild writer's block but I'm back and at 'em with the fics. So read and enjoy. And if you have time go check out my new story which is posted on my profile.

Disclaimer: I AM NOT SM. Not at all.

_

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_

She walked forward into the hall, red hair swinging behind her like the flames of a comet tail. A red deeper than that of her eyes, or the eyes of those around her. Beside her was her mate, the companion to her soul. They walked together and, heads held high, they faced the three figures seated before them with a glint in their eyes.

_And terror in their cold, unbeating hearts _

"_Ah, dear Victoria. Dear James. What an expected surprise!" The one in the middle, called Aro, said with a sinister smile on his face. His thin lips curled inwards on themselves at the corners, his teeth glinted in the artificial lighting; a Cheshire cat grinning over the bloody carcass of the once living, and the now to be dead._

"_Aro," her reply was curt and cold. She had no affection for this monster among beasts but she was afraid of him, as she should rightfully be. So she got down on one knee and bowed her head before him, James copying her movements. It was best to go into the villain's lair supposedly on their side._

_Aro chuckled and beckoned her forward. She went, reluctantly, and brought her steady hand up to his extended one. The look on his face could only be described as pure greed, but she tried not to think that; he knew what she said in her mind, or, at least, he would soon know. Her cold skin made contact with his, and the chilling cruelty pulsed from his soft, seemingly fragile skin. She tried to keep her mind blank, but her body recorded the sensation of that hand in her mind anyways. Her subconscious paired it with words: like old, weather beaten parchment, smooth and flaked with age, luminescent to the quality of translucence. Opaque and cloudy in the bloody sea of his irises and the flowing night of his hair. So black that it could only be made from the souls of those as evil as he._

_Whether they were alive or dead at the time their souls departed did not matter. _

_She shivered as a look of total and unbridled smugness washed over his face. It was a look of power, a look of ease. A look of the knowledge that you have absolute control and you intend to use that control so as to create a universe that completely revolves around you. Aro had that kind of control. Aro absolutely swam in it. _

_And he damn well knew it too._

"_Victoria, sweet Victoria," his voice was meant to be crooning, but it was sour enough to curdle milk. Her hand in his flinched; she wanted to be free, to have her privacy back. But Aro had to let go of her hand in order for that to happen._

_And he was having way too much fun messing with her at the moment._

_His grasp on her steady digits tightened exponentially; if she had still been human, her hand would have burst under the pressure. She wasn't human. But her hand still felt like it was caving in on itself._

"_Yes, Aro," her voice was sweet and compliant and her mind was screaming abuse at him. He tightened his grip, grinning as obscenities were thrown at him mentally._

"_Such a smooth, polite demeanor you have, Victoria. But your mind… well, are you sure you weren't a sailor or some such back when you were a disgusting piece of human filth?" He chuckled and let go of her hand. She pulled it behind her back, not giving him the satisfaction of seeing her rub it and try to soothe the soreness._

"_I wouldn't be at all sure sir. It's all a little hazy, really." He chuckled again, amused for some infuriating reason. He shook his finger in her face, tutting and clicking his tongue._

"_Of course you wouldn't dear, but I know your human past," she sucked in a breath as his eyes twinkled with amusement, "I know where you were born, your full name, your childhood, your petty secrets, your marriage, and even your child." Victoria gasped and reached out behind her to grasp James's hand. She held on to it, desperation etched in the straining lines of her knuckles._

"_So, there _was_ a child!" Her eyes would have welled up with moisture if it were physically possible. But she felt nothing other than an uncomfortable dryness in her neck._

"_Oh, I believe that may have been possible. Now, I could tell you just how possible it was if…" her head drooped. Of course there was an 'if'. There was always an 'if' with this impossible creature._

"_If you get me some much needed information on a certain…human… that I am very curious about. Now, I don't believe that it would be much trouble on your part, just a little reconnaissance. She is human, after all. She shouldn't be too hard to track and keep tabs on." Victoria was intrigued. Aro? Interested in a human? What?_

_Suspicious._

_Her eyes narrowed on him, the red turning into tiny slitted flames as she observed his bloody orbs. They were stained with the life force of his countless victims; much in the same way that hers were. She was always disturbed by the red of vampire irises. When she was 'born' they were the things she had hated most; the things that constantly reminded her, more than anything else, that she was a monster. A bloodsucker, a leech, a murdered, an abomination. She was human in shape, slightly in mind, and even less so in behavior. But somehow she managed to sometimes convince herself that she was a natural part of the order of things. And then she would catch sight of her eyes in the mirror, or on the surface of a rippling lake; the ruby droplets riding away from her and into the cold water again._

_She hated those eyes. She hated Aro. And if it wasn't for James, she would have hated herself._

_She sucked in a breath. She know she didn't need it but it was instinct. And instinct was what ruled her now._

"_Tell me what I need to do and I'll do it. And if the results are to your satisfaction, let me remember again. I want to remember what it was like to have a child of my own in my arms. I want to remember soft, warm skin and pulses that didn't make me salivate. If you can give me that, I'll do anything you need me to." Aro smirked. He had her right where he wanted her and Victoria knew that. But she was desperate._

_And desperate souls, whether they are human or vampire, do stupid things._

"_Very good. Now, this human I want you to watch for me is by the name of Isabella Swan. Also known as Bella. I'll give you a picture of her before you depart. She lives in Phoenix, Arizona. North America. Keep quiet, remain unseen, and report back to me in six months. Any questions?" Victoria's curiosity almost got the better of her but she stifled it. No need to go asking the scary vampire questions that might not need to be asked._

_But apparently her mate wasn't as savvy as she._

"_Why do you want us to watch this human? Of what importance is she to you?" Aro smiled at James. Or maybe bared his teeth threateningly would be more accurately. The blonde behind him, Cauis, chuckled meanly. And the other one, Marcus, well… He just cringed farther back into the shadows, trying to hide from them for some reason. _

"_Bella Swan? She and I may have a little more in common with each other than I had originally thought. And she has something of mine," he snickered at that. Then his sinister smile made a reappearance._

"_I would just like to find out whether or not it is worth my time trying to get it back." _

_I just want to cry and I can't help but try_

_My hardest and my best_

_To go ahead and die_

_What's the point of life_

_When you can't decide_

_Who you are and who you're not_

_Or answer all the whys_

_See the questions in your eyes_

_I said I'll try, I tried_

_And then when all my flame is gone_

_I'll still be burning bright._

_Don't you know I'll watch you _

_When everything goes wrong_

_Can't you tell I'll catch you_

_When you start to fall_

_Don't you see I want to_

_Hold your hand in mine_

_I can't help but hurt you_

_And I'm the one with time_

_To waste_

_Just one taste_

_Of you, someday_

_Someplace_

_So I can live this lie…_

_And someday, maybe someday_

_I'll be back to fine._

I woke to light. The light of something beautiful, something heart wrenching.

And looking out my window, I could see that it was still night.

A small gasp and a painful tightening against my numb hand brought me back to the present. I looked up with hollow eyes, into the eyes of another. But they weren't hollow; they were full and brewing with questions. And disappointment when they saw that my eyes held no answers.

"You're eyes are red and brown and silver now." The sweet voice and the blue eyes were concerned. The emotions checked up with one another. And then I was swimming in the blue, dazed and disorientated…

"_I don't want her. She isn't mine, Charlie, she's yours. And I don't want her; you do. She is your life now, I can see it. I used to be your life._

_You took my life from me by handing me this thing of yours. And so I will take away your life. Her._

_Not me. It."_

"Bella? Isabella? Bella?" the sweet voice was replaced with something much smoother and warmer. Soft and rough, velvety like the darkness that enveloped me. I shook my head, shook away my tears, shook away Renee's voice as it echoed in my mind.

My mother used to call me 'it'.

I was two years old when she had first referred to me in that way.

And it's the first time I remember using my gift. My very first actual memory. The day we left and the day Isabella Swan, little carefree girl, died. And the more broken version of her emerged, only half formed, from the flames and ashes. A disfigured Phoenix, ashamed and alone.

And still broken.

"Yes, Edward," I sighed, my eyes still tight shut against the scathing words of the one who had given birth to me. I opened my eyes again, staring into brilliant green this time. Edward's eyes were mesmerizing. They seemed to pull me forward. And I could feel myself moving towards him. But he didn't move back.

Even when our faces were inches apart.

I watched the green darken. I saw the green smolder, coals of the inferno. I watched as the green eyes searched my own and slowly, almost reluctantly, backed away.

He cleared his throat, "Are you alright?" I shook my head. I wasn't really sure.

"I woke to light," I blurted out, "but I couldn't really _see_ it, I just…felt it. And it's completely dark in here and I have night vision and all but…" I trailed off, blushing now. Edward and Alice stared at me quizzically. Then Alice piped up.

"Well Edward was playing the piano, if that's what you mean.." My head snapped over to the blushing creature of perfection. Maybe it was that, but there was a voice too.

And then we were saying it at the same time. Staring into each others' eyes.

"And someday, maybe someday, I'll be back to fine." My eyes stared into Edward's as the slow ripples of electricity doubled, tripled, and I was lost in this ocean of sensation.

"That's the song I was singing while playing," he said slowly, "maybe one day you would like to hear it?" I nodded. Bright enthusiasm and excitement oozing from my pores. I looked to the side and saw that Alice had left the room, I'm guessing with a smug smile too.

I was so very enamored with Edward. And it was so fucking _obvious._

Edward smiled. And the crooked smile made another appearance. I swear I felt light headed as I saw one side of his perfectly plump lips just go a bit higher than the other. _Guh…can't…function…_

I pulled myself out of my daze, just barely managing to keep my jaw closed and the drool inside my mouth. But seriously, can you blame me? I mean those eyes, that body, that smile, that face, that_ hair_; all brown and golds and the reddish hues, like little fires.

Fire. Red. Hair.

Victoria, James…Aro.

"Edward, are those vampires still here? Victoria and James?" he gave me a startled look. Then he nodded his beautiful head.

"Yes, but how did you know their names? I read their minds, so I know, but how did you… wait, never mind. I keep forgetting. You touched them didn't you?" I closed my eyes. Yes, I touched them, but this time it was different. _This_ time I saw everything. I saw all their thoughts and their fears and their emotions. I saw their secrets and memories and every event that ever passed through their mind. I even saw their dreams.

I saw everything. From the moment they were born to the present moment that I had touched them.

I knew more about Victoria Morenci-Traverse and James Traverse that I knew about my fucking self. And it scared the bejezus out of me. I gulped.

"Edward, can you hand me a mirror or something?" He frowned, not knowing what the hell I was at.

"Well there's one in the bathroom…" He pointed to the door on the right and I got off the bed. He followed after me hesitantly, leaving the door open when we got in. He stood off to the side as I leaned in, his arms crossed over his chest, mouth set.

I gasped.

My brown eyes were multi-shaded again with that ring of liquid silver around the edges of the pupil and the iris. Like little waves of moonlight. But I had seen that before.

It was the red that worried me.

My eyes were speckled with crystalline dust; little twinkling rubies hovering and weaving through the iris, and in the deep black of the pupil, a speck of golden red. My eyes were beautiful, I guess. But they were scary too.

Because that red color looked suspiciously like the vampire's blood.

I gulped and turned away from the mirror. And into a warm, hard body. Edward was standing close to me and his eyes bored into mine. He didn't back away, he just brought his hand up to my face.

_You're eyes are beautiful, you know. Whether or not they are silver, brown, or red. _

Then he pulled away and stepped back from me. I could feel myself pouting and I tried to get a normal expression on my face. But no. I was just going to pout.

"So, you saw their minds, right?" I nodded. And then I looked him in the eye. My voice firm and sure.

"Yes, I saw into their minds. But, this time, it was different. This time I saw _everything_ they had ever thought. Every emotion, experience, sensation, dream, memory. Every single thing they had ever had within their mind was seen. Everything.," Edward's eyes widened then narrowed. He was looking at me like there was something wrong with me.

Just like most people did.

"What? What's wrong?" My voice was strained and small. If he felt that way about me it would kill me.

I didn't know why, but I couldn't stand it if he felt that way about me.

He shook his head, "Nothing." But it wasn't nothing. It was never just nothing. So when he turned to go I ran at him, ran at him fast, and grabbed his hand.

_Aro…_

I dropped his hand and then I looked into his eyes.

They were sad.

"You have a gift almost identical to Aro's. He can see everything that anyone had ever thought, just like you could when you touched Victoria and James. And I'm worried, because _nobody_ ever has the same gift. Some are very similar, but nobody has the same. Yours and Aro's though…" I gulped again. I had the same gift as that monster?

It was too coincidental for my liking.

I opened my mouth to say something but I wasn't fast enough. Because out of nowhere came what I could only guess was Rosalie's screeching voice.

"What the fuck? What is this? And why the hell is it- Emmet!" Edward and I stared at each other for a second and then we were both out the door. Whatever this was it wasn't necessarily good. We rushed down the hallway, through a door on our left, and then down another hallway. I could hear Rosalie's screeching clearly now, and more surprisingly, Emmet's raucous laughter. We were nearing the corner when I heard it start.

There was a slow, soft piano intro. And I stopped dead.

"_Where'd you go? I miss you so. Seems like it's been forever since you been gone… please come back home…"_

Fort Minor ran into the rap and I groaned out loud. This had better not be what I thought it was.

That's when we turned the corner.

Rosalie was standing next to the open front door staring down in amazement. Emmet was holding his ribs he was laughing so hard, his other hand supporting his bent frame against the wall. And in the doorway, right outside the _Cullen's_ front door, was the Alarm Clock. The Alarm Clock.

Holy shit.

I stared down at the red, rooster-faced Alarm Clock in shock. _How? Why?_

Even Little B was dumbfounded.

**This is FUCKED up. Badly. How is this even possible? Why is it following us? WHY?**

_I have no idea. I really don't._

I turned to Edward. He was staring wide-eyed at the alarm clock, jaw hanging open, arms loose at his sides. Rosalie was starting to look terrified of the thing. She was frozen in fear. Emmet, on the other hand, was currently convulsing on the floor, trying to get in some breath as tears of mirth streamed down his face.

"_Where'd you go? I miss you so. Seems like it's been forever since you've-"_

And cue cut off. I ran over to the creepy ass thing and picked it up. I let out a long sigh and turned to a cowering Rosalie, a hiccupping Emmet, and a stock-still Edward.

I smiled painfully.

"Meet my Alarm Clock." I held it out in their general direction.

"Hybrids, meet the Alarm Clock. Alarm Clock, meet the Hybrids." Then the stupid thing decided to get friendly and do a little more serenading.

"_You say goodbye, and I say hello. I don't know why you say goodbye, I say hello. Hello, hello."_

It didn't even wait for three minutes this time. And I didn't even waste my time being freaked out over it. The others handled the freak out part well enough anyway. Well, at least Rosalie did.

She screamed and stumbled back. Then she bumped into the wall which made her jump forward which made her trip over the carpet. Then she scrambled backwards rather ungracefully, a horrified expression on her face the whole time.

Drama queen much?

Emmet was staring, still hiccupping in an unflatteringly squeaky way, longingly at the thing. Like all he wanted at that moment was to make it his new best friend. Edward was staring at me and grinning. Oh, the things that grin of his did my body.

"**It's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes…"**

_Not you too!_

**Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.**

"What?" I looked down self consciously. It would be just my luck to have something gross like a sweat stain at that moment.

Edward's eyes twinkled, "You do realize that you just introduced us to a clock, don't you? And that the clock has a rooster on it? And that it is singing the Beatles to us?" I smiled back at him.

"Yup, yes, and si. I understand. But I can't help it, the clock is doing this all by itself. It seems like a person sort of, doesn't it?" He nodded his gorgeous head, still grinning.

"Well- _hiccup_- maybe you should name it then-_squeak_," Emmet piped up and let loose a torrent of screeching noises. I chuckled.

"Well what do you suggest? Anything but Carl or Logan though," I shuddered, "_Anything _but those two 'names'," they don't even deserve to be called names.

Nope, the words Carl and Logan should be insults.

"I want to name it Wilson. Like from that castaway movie with Tom Hanks. With the volleyball?" I shook my head. There will only ever be one inanimate object worthy of that name and that object was Wilson the Volleyball.

I looked down at the clock and smiled. Usually it goes off at six but this time it went off at 7 pm. Weird.

Then I flipped my shit.

"Wait a second, how can it be 7 pm? When I woke up, Edward told me that it 8…" and then it hit me.

"Was I asleep for a whole 24 hours? What's today?" Edward grimaced.

"Today's Sunday, and yeah you slept an entire day," Emmet was grinning cheekily at me. But it faded when I decided to get my freak on.

"Wait, what about Charlie, and what about school tomorrow? Where am I staying, and am I going home, because I don't think that's a good idea seeing as I still want to see Victoria and James-" I felt a warm hand on my arm and looked up.

_You're staying here, Charlie already knows that, and we'll drive you to school tomorrow. Alice got clothes for you and you have your clock so you should be good._

"But what if people start to wonder? I mean, won't it be weird if I suddenly show up at school with you guys?"

_Let people think what they like. If they ask say you made friends with Alice and that you've become friends with our family through her. Make something up, or tell them the partial truth. It doesn't matter because none of those mundane, self-centered, hormone-controlled adolescents will be able to actually figure out what's really going on._

I smiled up at him, "What, and we're not part of the hormone-controlled adolescents now? How old_ are_ you? Because I'm seventeen." He grinned again. A little piece of me died a happy death as the one side kicked up higher than the other.

_Well, in actual years, I'm about six hundred years old. Maturity wise, I'm about eighteen. Physically, I'm about twenty-four. So we'll just say that I'm eighteen and not pay attention to the little details._

I giggled at the six hundred, twenty-four, eighteen year old Hybrid. Then somebody cleared their throat. I looked up into a pair of amused gray eyes. I blushed fiercely as Emmet chuckled, picked up his wife, who was still sitting on the floor and staring warily at the clock clutched in my hands, then walked away.

"So… if you guys drive me to school tomorrow, who will I go with? And how are we going to handle the psycho-singer thing?" Edward's good mood diminished greatly. He sighed and his forehead bent until it was touching my own, his lips were only centimeters away from my own. And that was all I could seem to think about as his sweet breath dazzled my already dazed senses.

_You're going to have to avoid me during the day. And I'll have to avoid you. But at night, when the moon's out, we can talk and be around each other without the chance of me wanting to hurt you. Because, really, I'm tired of staying away from you, Bella. And the selfish part of me won't let you go now that I can hold you without the temptation of your blood._

I shivered at the hot look in his eyes. The green flames roared and smoldered until I was left a mass of goo in his arms. He pulled away from me, his breath still tingeing the air between us with something unknown but not exactly unwelcome.

He cleared his throat.

"I think it's time we go see the prisoners." I felt my lips pull into an easy smile and I stood up straight, saluting him.

"Aye, aye Captain." And then we marched together down the hall, laughing like fools.

And every chuckle I made that reverberated around the hall I was walking down held within it the apprehension of what I was about to face. Of what was about to happen to me.

Because these two vampires I was going off to meet? They were following me. And they'd been following me since I'd been in Phoenix. Aro was on the hunt, and I was the unlucky prey. He wanted something from me, something I had apparently taken.

Let's just hope that when he _does_ find me, I end up walking away with that unknown burden off of my shoulders.

Hopefully, I'll be able to walk away with my life.

* * *

So what do you think? Let me know and I'll give you a virtual kiss!

MWAAA!

If you have any ideas whatsoever as to the name of the Alarm Clock, please feel free to either write it in a review or PM me. Because I am drawing up a blank right now and I really need to figure out a name in the next chapter.

So please, give me some ideas here.

And thank you for sticking with my slow ass!!


	14. It's Called a Door

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line and the amazing Alarm Clock.

Get ready, get set, goooo!

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The door in front of me was wood and brown and boring. It was a door, just like every other door in the world, but this door was also uncharacteristically _different_. It was a door and it lead somewhere. It was a portal, an escape, a hurdle, and a terror. It was the end and it was the beginning. And that door, which wasn't especially ordinary, scared the shit out of me.

Because of what was _behind_ it.

Behind that door was a vampire couple. They had red eyes, they had a significant loss of blood and maybe consciousness, they had had a mission, and now they had a failure. And maybe they were as scared as I was at the moment.

Because if it was me, sitting in that room knowing that I had failed and been caught, I would be fucking petrified. Considering who their boss was and everything.

"Bella?" Edward seemed to be saying that a lot now. And I couldn't say that I didn't enjoy the way my name sounded on his beautifully succulent lips.

"Yeah?" my voice wavered embarrassingly. He chuckled and then he put one hand on my shoulder.

_Are you sure? _

I took a deep breath. Time to put my game face on.

I nodded and reached out one hand as Edward pulled his own hand back. He severed the connection and I turned the knob. We watched as the door squeaked ominously, slowly revealing a small room beyond it. There was a small wooden chair, two other seats, and the Cullen family lounging around the walls. Emmet, in particular, was staring down the figures in the chairs. Although they could probably already tell that they weren't going anywhere. They had on their faces identical expressions of dismay. And two pairs of furious, terrified red eyes.

"You really need to get those hinges oiled," I announced and a replying chuckle came from behind. We walked into the room and faced the two vampires.

"James," I nodded to the blonde, "Victoria," I inclined my head towards the fiery haired one. They blanched noticeably at my use of their given names. I grinned viciously. It was time for some payback.

"I guess you're wondering how I know you're names. But I'm the one asking the questions here, okay? And if you cooperate, you may get more out of this than a few answers." Now for the main event. I grinned at them, flashing my still sharper-than-normal canines. I swung around the wooden chair in front of me and straddled it. I balanced my forearms on the top of the chair and rested my chin on my arms. Then I cocked my head to the side and flashed them another jovial smile.

"How's Aro?" Oh, they didn't like that question, not at all. Their eyes bugged out and they seemed to shrink away from me, as if the use of his name put him in the room with us. They shook their heads, mouths hanging open. They were dumbstruck. And they weren't the only ones. The Cullens were stuck in much the same stupor as they were.

This was going to be fun, I could already tell.

I didn't know why I had become so vicious all of a sudden, maybe it was the vampire blood still circulating in my body, but I could feel my lips curl into a positively evil smirk as I gazed upon the two vamps. The two stalking, mindless, leech-like vamps.

"W-who is this Ar-" James's voice seemed to choke on the word," this _name_ you speak of? We know no one called A-_hack, cough_-ro. You must be mistaken." His eyes were scared. And I felt a heady sense of power flowing through me at the sight of his expression. It was intense.

I chuckled ruefully at his pathetic attempt to save some face. How absolutely disgusting.

"Really, do you not know anyone called _ARO_? How about someone named Cauis, or someone named Marcus? Or a sickly twisted triad of power-hungry vampires calling themselves the Millicent, huh? Do you not know about them either?" The two seemed to turn even paler.

"How does she know? You will all die if he knows that she knows!" this was the raving Victoria, bitching about something or another to the Cullens, "You broke the only rule! Tell no one of our existence, and especially a human.." her voice faltered on that. I grinned again. She flinched.

I yawned theatrically, hoping she would get a full view of my sharp teeth again.

"As you probably already know, I'm not exactly a human. Actually, we have no idea what the fuck I am, but it's not human," I was starting to feel a little proud of my abilities at that point, "I'm stronger and faster than a human. My eyes turn red like yours and I can drink blood. And my teeth are sharp enough to break vampire skin, as you know all too well," I felt a sick roiling in my stomach at the thought of my animalistic attack on the beings before me. But I kept the smirk on my face, refusing to showcase my weakness. Victoria and James winced at the memory of my teeth snapping and tearing through their marble-like skin.

And the scary, malevolent power was roiling through my system again.

Jeez, what the fuck was up with me?

The two vamps were still quiet so I decided to up the ante. I wanted them to be a blubbering, pitiful mess by the time I was done with them. And, admittedly, I didn't think that it would take too much effort on my part.

"Alright, let's get down to business. How long have you been following me and when are you supposed to report back to Aro?" I already knew the answers but I wanted to help clear up the situation for the Cullens. James's eyes bugged out.

"How? W-what do you-" I cracked my knuckles threateningly. He cleared his throat and turned to his mate. She was glaring/cowering in my direction. An interesting combination.

"I'm not even going to ask how you know this, freak," her voice was acerbic and plaintive, "but I don't see us gaining anything from holding out. I bet you already know the answer anyway." I giggled a manic little giggle; finally we were getting somewhere. She shook her head and took a deep, unneeded breath. Inhale. And exhale the torrent of words.

"We've been following you for a few weeks now. We caught you about a week before you left for Forks. We've been with you the whole way. We were even on the plane and you didn't see us, but we saw you," she smirked at the thought of me puking all over senior citizens' lunch trays, "you were an amusing creature, for a human. Or maybe not so much a human…" Her gaze was quizzical but I ignored it and waved my hand in a 'keep talking' kind of motion.

"We're meant to report back to the Old One in two days' time. We followed you here on Friday and have witnessed the strange set of events that have taken place since. And I must admit that you are a truly unusual creature. There is something familiar about your-ah- _characteristics _shall we say. But I can't seem to remember why…" her voice faded away and she joined in on the silence. The Cullens were confused, Edward was a little less so, and I was contemplative. I sorted through the cacophony of thoughts I'd absorbed from Victoria and James, but there didn't seem to be anything, no memories or experiences, that even remotely contained any semblances of my characteristics, as Vicky had so lovingly named them. I sighed.

"Okay, I know what you were after and it seems that you've gotten it, but I feel like I can help you with something. And maybe you could help me in return," they looked confused. But didn't everyone?

"I know what happened to your family, _before_ you were 'born'" Victoria gasped and clutched the chair she was sitting in with neck-breaking force. The arm of the chair cracked from the pressure. James looked just as astonished. But not as desperate.

"We'll do anything, anything at all," she pleaded, "just please tell us. _I need to know_." Her voice was manic and uncontrolled. James reached over and stroked her hair, murmuring quietly in her ear. I could feel that power still in my veins. But it was starting to feel different now.

It was starting to _hurt._

It was like a pins and needles sensation. My body was starting to feel unattached as the sharp pressure floated to the crown of my head. It was building, pressing down on my brain, making me groan. I put my head in my hands.

Then a hand was on my shoulder and thoughts were in my head and it burned me. It scalded so hot I wanted to scream. Instead I moaned, low and agonized. My hands scrabbled to clutch at my stomach, to somehow hold back the ripping sensation. The hand was gone now. But I was in too much pain to pay much attention.

Voices all around me were calling out in concern. Was I alright? What was wrong? What was happening? I didn't know. Another voice, closer to my ear, was frantically trying to get me to explain. But I couldn't seem to get my muscles to work, couldn't open my mouth to say anything other than _aahhhhh…_

The pressure came to a high point; it felt like my body was about to explode. My head, my stomach, my chest and lungs, all of it felt like it was twisting and clenching and tying itself into knots. And this time around I screamed.

"Bella! Isabella!" they were frantic and scared. I was convulsing now, my body twitching and flailing in an attempt to throw off what I was almost sure was the fires of hell. It burned so badly, so much. My eyes were clenched tight shut and my teeth were grit. I tried to open my eyes, tried to see beyond my eyelids. So they fluttered and for just a second I caught sight of red. Red, red, red, red, red, and blonde.

_Go!_

My brain was screaming in pain. And inside of me was that voice, that little voice. It wanted me to go. Go where?

_To the red! Go to the red!_

So I lurched forward, clenching my teeth against the lightning bolts running through my body. I staggered forward, ignoring the chaos ensuing, and walked. Step, step, step. The pressure reached its high point, I could feel it in my body, a malevolent energy that needed to be let go. I was being burned at its stake.

I hit a level of unimaginable pain. I reached forward. I touched red.

The color was soft and fiery, brilliant like a star. It was Victoria's hair. Without knowing exactly why, I dug my fingers into her scalp and my other hand did the same to James. I could feel the pain lessening. And then it felt like I was hitting a brick wall.

I was there, but I wasn't there. The noises around me faded and so did all the sights and fears, the pain was now a dull ache. But I knew if I didn't do whatever I was trying to do it would come back. So I closed my eyes.

Whoa.

I wasn't in the room anymore. I was in a dark space, infinite in all directions. There were images and sounds and words floating all around me. Red eyes, blue eyes, human mouths open in a last scream, human necks open in an act of death. There was blood and gore, but there was happiness too.

_Jamie…_

_Yes Victoria?_

_I love you._

The voices floated around me, the words seemed to float into my mind and out again, the pictures were as real as the room itself, like a 3-D movie. I wanted to reach out and touch but I didn't. Instead I concentrated on them. I looked for them. Because I knew what had to happen now. Or, at least, I thought I did.

"I want every memory, picture, word, sound, _data_ from the past month to show up here now." I watched as the images and words and sounds jumbled into a mass of floating material. I reached out one finger and touched it.

_The girl is abnormal, not human…_

_The Cullens? Does she know about them, who they are?_

_That Edward has a strange attraction to her. See he's always watching her. Although that might be because she is his singer. And she _does_ smell good…_

_We need to get all of this back to Aro. Strange events are unfolding._

I went through everything. James and Victoria had followed me here, seemingly bored. Then things started getting interesting when I met the Cullens. And then, on Friday, they managed to stumble upon a gold mine of information when I was kidnapped. They followed me and had been watching me: in the house on that first day, my reaction to the moon, with Alice on the balcony, in the forest, back at the house. Everything had been running smoothly until they got caught. And then it all went up in flames when they got captured. I sorted through the memories. I touched the memories.

And then I punched the memories.

I took my fist and punched. But it didn't go through, no, my knuckles hit that glass-like ball and it shattered, opaque on impenetrable. White on black, glass and empty space. The pain in my knuckles was a sharp stabbing point that faded with the relief I felt washing through me. It was almost like a high, I felt like I was soaring. And it felt damn good.

My muscles relaxed as the shattered glass drifted slowly like feathers down, down, down, slowly fading from my view as they were swallowed by the black. The ball of memories was gone, replaced by sight, sound, and sense. I smiled to myself, the images not as deadly to my survival.

_You need to replace them. Aro can't be suspicious._

I didn't question the voice; I just followed its instructions. I closed my eyes and concentrated, pulling up mundane memories of my own and twisting them to fit into the convoluted picture these vampires had. I inserted memories of hunting, of watching me sleep, of seeing me at school. And when those memories joined the cacophony of actual reality, they fit in perfectly. And then Victoria's voice was echoing throughout the space.

_I just want to know my family. I just want to have a human piece in my dead heart._

My own heart wrenched painfully at her words. I knew what it felt like to just want a family. To have even just a happy memory that I could visit when things turned to shit. And I could see that her plea was genuine and heartfelt; the dying request of an immortal. And so, I reached into the two mates' consciousness, probing for their locked up memories with my mind. I watched as the images and noises around me ceased and changed until I was looking at what looked like disintegrating plastic. It was their human memories, falling apart as time went by. I watched as flashes of their son screaming, laughing, crying, living, and dying ran across the little squares. I ran my hand over their surface, cracked and melted, my thoughts humming as I sorted through the stolen memories in my mind.

They were so clear in my head. I figured I owed Victoria some clear thoughts too.

And so I watched as a river of silver light flowed from my mind, down my arm, wrapped around my fingertips, and bathed the broken memories in their essence. It ran along the surface, fixing up cracks and fractures, smoothing out dents, replacing the parts lost until in front of me was a vibrant and healthy piece of time that they could remember. I watched as the silver was soaked up and the memories pulsed with clarity. And I smiled to myself at the sight of them, knowing that when the vamps came to, they would have a happier time in their lives to accompany them. I made sure that they were still asleep and that their unconscious body would not record what was happening up to the point that they would leave. Then I spoke into the darkness.

"You will not awake until my voice tells you to and not until my voice tells you when. When that happens, you will erase the memories of my time here and my voice telling you to awake. You will remember only what I left for you to remember and no more. You will not come back to watch me, you will have no remembrance of the Cullens and I together. You will go to Aro after you wake up and when you wake up, you will not _know_ that you are waking. You will think that you had been lying on the ground admiring the view and that you were getting up to go. You will leave immediately upon that realization and go straight to Aro. You will not come back. And you will make it impossible for these instructions to be found by Aro. You will not make him suspicious in any shape or form and all he will ever see when he examines your thoughts is your overall boredom with the completely mundane girl. Are we clear?" I felt a pulse of energy wave across the dark space toward me. It wrapped around me and I felt power. It wasn't the energy of the mind or the consciousness; it was the energy of the soul. And I knew that Aro wouldn't find what was hidden there.

I smiled at its comforting and happy embrace. These were good vampires with good souls. And I knew that they would be grateful deep down where neither they nor Aro would ever hope to delve. And I knew that I was safe, for now.

So I closed my eyes and waited as the black morphed to the red of light behind my eyelids. The low buzz of thoughts turned into the low buzz of voices around me. I could feel arms holding me, brands of heat against my lower back and a palm on my face. After the voices around me I could hear the voice inside me, a chant getting more frantic by the second. And I knew that I was back.

So I opened up my eyes.

"Bella, Bella, Isabella, Bella, Bella! Wake up, please wake up…"_Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella, Bella. _I snuggled into Edward's embrace, sniffing in what I hoped was a sneaky way. He smelled like rowan and spice. And cinnamon. Yum.

I looked up at Edward and smiled when I saw him sigh in relief. I felt him relax around me and then we were melting into each other again. Warmth upon warmth, comfort in its most ancient form. It was a hug, awkward and unintentional, but still a hug. And I took advantage of that fact, throwing in another little snuggle.

I have one word. Paradise.

"Bella, stop snuggling and pay attention. What the fuck just happened?" I groaned in frustration and turned towards the amused/pissed/befuddled devil Pix. Her spiky hair waved at me menacingly in a 'bitch explain' kind of way that I really wasn't able to ignore. I looked into her blue eyes and watched as they churned and curled with emotions. And then they blanked out.

Pix went into a daze, mouth hanging open, eyes glazed and faraway. What the hell?

"Um, did she just see Robert Pattinson? Because she looks like she got hit over the head with a bludger or some other Quidditch-istic thing." Edward chuckled and helped me up from the floor.

_No, she's having a vision about school tomorrow, I think. And what the fuck is a bludger? And Qudditch-istic? Is that even a word._

When he let me go I started swaying. And I'm pretty sure that _I_ was looking like I got hit over the head with a bludger. Because Edward just said 'fuck'.

Can'..Hotness.

He was sooooo sexy. And it was soooo unfair.

Why couldn't I be a tenth of his attractiveness? And how was I supposed to use my brain around him and sound like a completely non-retarded person if he said things like that. Or , more accurately, thought stuff like that. Because if he'd actually said it out loud I would probably die from sexual frustration. Either that or I'd finally jump his bones.

But then I'd have to get some self confidence and not be such a wimp. Which is slightly impossible.

"Bellla? Hello? Bella?" I snapped out of my stupor, stared at Eduardo with what I was sure was drool dripping out of my mouth, and then turned hurriedly to the back to slightly normal Pix. Who was just managing not to piss herself laughing. When her giggles finally subsided she did a whole 360 degree attitude flip and glared at me.

"What the ever loving heck just happened there? One moment you're groaning in pain, the next you're running at the hostages, and then you're passed out cold mumbling something about glass and shit. What? I mean really, what?" She wasn't even able to finish her thought which was probably something about the's and fuck's. But I just shook my head and sighed.

"I don't really know…" I started backtracking fast when she shot some figurative laser beams out of her eyes, "I just suddenly felt like I was being stabbed to death with a ball point pen for no apparent reason and that I had to get near the 'hostages' before I went completely insane." Pix raised her eyebrow in the universal 'bullshit' sign. But I just kept on talking.

"Then I was in this really dark place, not a room just a space. Almost like it would look if you went up in a spaceship minus the stars and planets and other pretty light shows. Then there were thoughts and images and memories and voices and I think I was in their mind? And then some inner voice was all 'destroy their memories' and I punched a ball of glass like substance which was actually all the incriminating evidence that the vamps collected which attested to the fact that I'm not exactly normal. And that hurt like hell but the weird ache thing was gone so I just ignored it. Then the inner voice had me replace the memories and then I suggested that they forget it all and wake up with no memory of this or anything and they're currently knocked out. So I'm going to wake them up eventually and they'll go to Aro and he won't have a damn clue. Awesome sauce, right?" I took a really deep breath because I was seriously lacking in oxygen at that point. I exhaled while everyone else watched me in dumbfoundment.

"Wh- huh…You did what?" Alice was so confused that I couldn't help but laugh at her facial expression which was all 'ZOMG WTF?' Epic? Very. I turned around and looked at the peacefully sleeping killing machines. They looked so innocent when they weren't working for the most sadistic not-alive inhumane immortal on the planet. Or, at least, while they weren't able to look at me with their creepy as all hell eyes. Worked both ways, in my opinion.

"Alright people, time to move out. We got to get the prisoners near an airport and lickety-split. Let's go." The Hybrids were all confused, amused, and Emmet was slightly abused by Rosalie's slap when he laughed out loud. I guess she didn't like when he laughed at my absurdness. I didn't really like it either.

"I'm serious!" and to prove my point I gave them the scrunchy-brow to emphasize my point.

"We have to get them to an airport before the morning! I'm going to wake them up before we leave and they'll travel back to Aro like good little puppies and then we can all live happily ever after because they won't have any memories of us." They still looked confused so I outlined it for them.

"I just used mind control and now I own their brains. They will do my bidding and leave me the hell alone." And while everyone looked flabbergasted I marched my way over to the prisoners with full intent of dragging them out myself. But before I could do that, Edward was zipping in front of me with the two slung over either of his shoulders. He gave me a brilliant smile and walked out the door with apparent ease. Even though he was carrying two full grown adults at the same time.

So. Fucking. Hawt.

"C'mon people, Bella wants to drop off the prisoners." The others were still obviously confused but they just shrugged and followed him out. I shook my head dazedly and tottered after them in a drunken way. I was losing all control of my body around the gorgeous specimen that was Edward. So hot, so freaking hot, so flipping freaking hot.

Guh.

We dropped the vamps off in some random alleyway a few blocks east of Sea-Tac Airport. Then, to general awe, I suggested that the two spies wake up and hop on a plane. They ambled off towards Sea-Tac in a zombie-like state while we hopped back in the Cullen mobile and drove our merry way home. I described more accurately what had gone on in Vicky and James's brains, still trying to get my point across. When we finally got back it was around midnight and the Cullen's were a little more informed. We were all bone-dead tired so we all ambled away to our own rooms after an awkward goodnight.

Emmet dragged Rosalie upstairs, Jasper and Alice disappeared down one of the numerous corridors, and Edward escorted me to my room because I would have lost my way otherwise. We walked in companionable silence, comfortable and safe. We got to my door after a bit of wandering and he smiled at me. That breathtaking, gorgeously crooked smile that melted my insides. Then he took my hand and brought it up to his beautiful lips. He smirked at me before kissing it softly.

And I fucking swooned.

_Goodnight Bella. Sweet dreams._

And then he was gone.

I ran into the room, shut the door, and jumped on the bed. Then I screamed into the pillow like an adolescent pimply faced girl who had finally gotten up the nerve to talk to her crush. Pathetic, absolutely pathetic. But I still squealed.

When I was finally done dramatizing and such, I lay back, closed my eyes, and drifted. I was losing more and more consciousness, floating in a sea of calm and warmth. Slowly drifting farther and farther away…

_The woman was swaying in front of the moon, head thrown back, silver hair dancing in waves of silver light. Her arms were loose at her sides, palms turned up, as she swayed. I heard a low keening noise buzz out of the lonely forest. It was sad and desperate. Longing for something, lunging at something it just couldn't reach. It was beautiful and tragic and soon my own mouth was open to join in on the haunting melody. But before a hint at soprano could pass my pursed lips, it dwindled and died. The woman hung her head down, clenched her fists, and then her back was wrenching with sobbing cries. _

_Suddenly a man ran out of the forest. His red eyes were trained on the woman like there was nothing else in the world for him to see. He sprinted towards her and before I could yell at her to run away, his arms were around her. But he didn't try to kill her._

_No, he was trying to hug her, comfort her. And eventually, the woman stopped crying._

_Then the couple was swaying together in the light of the moon, and I was swaying too. Because I wanted to feel what they were feeling, the electricity crackling through the air with them at its source. I looked to the side and saw the bronze haired boy. He was watching the couple longingly; an expression similar to my own I would guess. But he morphed before my eyes; he grew taller, bulkier, leaner. He lost the cherubic innocence and took on the ruggedness of a man. He turned to me, his green eyes aflame._

_The little boy was Edward. And he looked remarkably like the man who was holding the swaying woman. I watched with trepidation as Edward stalked towards me, but I wasn't afraid. No I was ecstatic. And when he put his own arms around me I felt like I would just explode from happiness. Then we too were swaying. We moved from side to side at a different tempo, a different tune, to the couple ahead of us. All four of us watched the silver ball of light that lit up the velvet night. It pulsed and it waved and it set the sky on white flame. I had to look away from it for a moment, its brilliance too much for me to bear, when I caught sight of another violent color._

_Deep dark ruby._

_The red eyes were staring us down as they scoured the light, waiting for a patch of darkness through which to slither. The eyes narrowed in determination as they took in the swaying couple. And then a thin papery hand was reaching out of the darkness to claw at them. I gasped._

_The eyes focused on me._

_Suddenly the eyes were no longer just eyes; they were a body, a cruel smile, a flash of teeth and terror. Red swirled as the marbled skin sprouted raven black hair. Red eyes swirled with ferocious intent as they zeroed in on Edward and me. _

_But I couldn't stop swaying, couldn't move from my spot beneath the light of the moon. It would protect me, it had to protect me. The figure stepped closer to us, then it moved sideways, eyes still locked with mine._

_It inched closer to the other oblivious couple, and then teeth tore at flesh and red stained silver like blood on the knife. It glittered deadly and bodies fell into the dark as maroon and ruby painted the night darker than black. A dripping sickly color, a life draining color, a greedy and evil color._

_Then the voice which inspired chills of the not good category._

"_Nothing escapes Aro, you may think you have won child, but I will be back… and you will meet your maker._

_Who are you moon gazer, who are you blood drinker, who are you child of the flesh? And if you are kin, will you be _able_ to win? Will the best turn out to be much less?"_

_A chuckle and a scream._

_I soon realized that the latter was my own._

I woke up, sweating and crying. I was sobbing for no reason, other than a nightmare. Then I stopped and thought about it. Why was I crying? It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream…

I drifted away again, falling effortlessly into fitful sleep. More dreams, nightmares. Silver and red, blade and blood, life and loss. It was unreal and it was real. It was imagined and it was delusional, but it was still scary. And when I woke up to a stream of newborn light of a rising sun, I couldn't help but think that the red light of it was splashed against the wall in much the same way the maroon of my dream had splattered the silver.

And then the Alarm Clock was singing Linkin Park and I was getting ready to go. Because what better way to wake up then to a song called Bleed It Out?

And just because I was in such a good mood, I decided to name the alarm clock Pogo. Like Pogo Stick. Or Pablo. Or Leggo my Eggos.

Because what better way to start the day than with some Eggos and a Pogo that wasn't a Pogo Stick?

We all love distraction.

"_I bleed it out… I bleed it out… I bleed it out…"_

Hey yall, real sorry it took so long. I got a little stuck on the last chappie. But no worries, it's up now right?

And thank you for the name Raven Jadewolfe! Awesome selectiont that was!

And thank you all for the reviews! I read and hold each one close to my heart in a box called "EGO".

LET'S INFLATE THE EGO PEOPLE, UPLOAD THE BOX AND I GIVES YOU CHEEZBURGER.


	15. Popping Bubbles and Ostracizing

Ahh, it's good to be back!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line.

* * *

Of all the craptastic things that could happen…of course _this_ had to be it. _This _had to happen on _this _particular day in _this _kind of weather because only something like _this_, meaning so freaking fuckingly terrible, could happen to someone like _me._

_This _had a name. _It _was called Mike Newton. And _it_ just happened to be annoying the ever-loving frick out of me. You know why? Because I'm Bella Swan. That's the best reason I could come up with. And it seemed to work well with Mike. Or as I so happily call him- Dyke.

"C'mon Bellsa, gimme a chance! I know I can make it all up to you if ya'd only gimme a chance! I mean, me and you? That would be like, earth shattering! It would shatter the earth! And hellsa Bellsa, we's gotta be together, chica, we's deserve each others!"

Okay. One, why can't he speak like a normal human being? Is it that hard to pronounce "come on", "you would", "give me", and "got to"? Speaking like a gangster only works if _you're_ a gangster; it doesn't sound that cool coming from a bleach white kid with spiky blonde hair and fish-feces blue eyes. He was pasty, milky white; like spoiled cream or butter. His porcupine spikes looked like they were ready to run someone through and his pudgy, desperate expression called for some major denial.

Plus, I hate when people say shit like Bellsa. It makes no sense. Dyke makes no sense. And my complete and utter hatred of him and everything he represents makes complete sense.

So I turned to him, uncrossed my arms, and morphed my pissed off features into a warm and inviting smile.

The idiot two desks away who was watching the exchange flinched at what I was sure was a contorted and grotesque grimace.

But Dyke, ever the oblivious Labrador, ignored my obvious pain and disgust. Dyke, I had learned, was very good at deluding himself. And very, _very_ good at pissing me off.

"Mike?" he looked to me, widening his eyes in a pleading way while simultaneously trying to look like he wasn't waiting for my next statement with bated breath. Thank god for the bated breath part though; his breath smelled like rat balls.

I looked Dyke in the eye. Then I raised my left hand and pointed my index finger in his direction. Dyke started to shake his head, a look of desperation in his still pleading eyes. His thin lips formed a chorus of _no's_, making him look like a gasping fish.

I placed the index finger of my right hand in my mouth, hooked it into my cheek, and formed a capsule of air around it. My cheeks billowed, the air waiting to rush out. Dyke's eyes widened comically as he continued to frantically shake his head and protest. I then poked at the air around his foul exterior with my left hand and released my hooked finger on my right hand, letting out the air. The pop of the whooshing breath seemed to resound like a gong in the large space I had managed to create between myself and the cretin by inching my desk back stealthily every two minutes. Mikes shoulders drooped; even his porcupine spikes seemed to hang loosely as he viewed me with wounded and soulless eyes. I shrugged.

I had popped his bubble again. Poor Dyke.

He turned to the front of the room with a sigh. Muttering something that sounded suspiciously like "One day…one day she'll see reason," and I smiled a huge satisfied smile. Oh, how I loved this lovely little bubble understanding he and I had come to within the last few weeks.

The first time I did it, popped the bubble by poking at Dyke's imaginary bubble of hope and popping my mouth, he didn't seem to get it. I then explained the concept to him: I was popping his bubble (_not _to be mistaken with his most likely intact cherry), and that meant I was rejecting him. It meant I was ignoring him. It meant, for all terms and purposes, that he no longer existed and would not be contacted or dealt with for a whole school day. I would have enacted a 'popped bubble equals non-existence for rest of time' policy, but I was afraid that I might destroy the poor kid.

I did have a heart, after all.

So I took pity on him and told him that if, for any reason, I 'popped his bubble' he would not be acknowledged by me for another six hours. He didn't believe me. But then I refused to look at him, respond to him, speak to him, or even listen to him for a whole school day. If he approached me in the hall, I walked right past. If he looked at me, I looked over his shoulder. If I was forced to speak to him by a teacher, I would explain to said teacher that there was no person there worth speaking to and I would be treated to incredulous looks and defeat. The teachers (and admittedly the students) knew of the bubble deal.

And I guess they were scared enough to respect it. Yay me.

So every Podunk-punk knew of the now infamous 'bubble pop'. I must have started a trend; I now saw people going around popping bubbles all the time: kids to their parents, one ex to another, divorced couples, teachers, friends in a spat. Even parents bubble popped their kids these days!

What can I say? Forks was a spectacularly small town.

The Cullens found it a funny coincidence, my trend-setting that is. And they would have loved to see my bubble popping in action. But, sadly enough, they were absent from school today. It was a rare sunny day in Forks, and they believed that a day of playing the truant was in order. They wanted to use up the nice weather for some hunting and vacationing somewhere in the great unknown called Washington. They would have taken me along if Charlie wasn't so adamant that I stay at school. And participate in school. And attempt to behave in school.

Fucking parental concern. It sucks something major when you know that you are superior to your old folks in every aspect but age. I was stronger, faster, probably smarter, definitely funnier, and way more supernatural than Charles Swan. But he had me beat by about twenty years and I was still one year behind the conscensus of "adult" in my loathsome country. Bullshit. I should just move to Mars; I bet _they_ don't care how old you are.

I heard a snicker to my right and turned, fully ready to pop some more bubbles, before I realized it was Tanya. She had tears in her eyes as she tried to quiet her snorts pointing all the time towards Dyke mouthing a chorus of mocking no's. She widened her eyes, imitating his pleading look, and the tears of mirth streaming down her face helped complete the pathetic picture. I myself was soon shaking with suppressed laughter and the two of us rocked back and forth in our chairs, trying to hold it in.

"Swan, Denali? Something you would like to share with the class?" the stern voice of the teacher made me look up. Right into the sad puppy dog eyes of Dyke, who had turned around to see what the hell was going on. I could barely hold it in at that point, but then I heard another snort to my right and soon I was laughing my freaking ass off in the middle of class. The teacher looked like she wanted to do something as she watched mine and Tanya's glee unfold, but I guess she, too, was amused. If her tiny uplift of the lips was anything to go by.

The rest of the class went by without interference on my part and when the bell rang I was out like a flash, Tanya right behind me, still giggling. We walked down the hall side by side, reminiscing together Dyke's pitiful tries at getting me to be within an inch of him without feeling the urge to vomit.

"Oh jeez," she said, "every damn time you lift your finger that kid looks like he's about to jump off a cliff. Speaking of jumping off cliffs, I'm hoping that I can get Jessica and Lauren to stand by Mike when he does it, just so I can shove them over the edge." She wrinkled her nose at the thought of the Bitchzillas.

"What'd they do now?" Because they had so obviously done something if Tanya was in a homicidal mood this early in the morning. She rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Same old shit. You know, telling me how much they would like to be my friend and if they could hang out with me, you, and by association, the _Cullens_," she fluttered her eyelashes super fast at me in a fake adoring way. Tanya was great at blinking extremely fast for no apparent reason. She could even give Kristen Stewart a run for her money!

"Oh Tasha!" her voice took on the nasally, simpering tone of the two transparent, plastic, soulless leeches, "We haven't, like, talked to you in like, forever! Like, OMG we, like, should hang out this afternoon! And you can bring Belle too! Oh, and if Belle and you, like, wanted to invite some friends, like the Cullens, that would be great…" she let it trail off suggestively and I let out a short, pissed off huff.

"What the hell? What'd you say to them?" Tanya smirked.

"I told them that they could go stick their ugly plastic faces up each other's cunts. They didn't take too kindly to that," she imitated them stomping off in their whore heels. I laughed outright at that. Hopefully one of them tripped on the way out.

I soon was saying goodbye to Tanya as I moved onto my next class. The rest of the day was spent being bored. And normal. I hung out with Tanya and Angela at lunch, went to Biology, blah, blah, blah. There wasn't much to do without the Cullens around. Well, there wasn't much for _me_ to do.

Everybody else was another matter.

Without Emmett or Jasper walking me down the hall, there was no deterrence to the whispering students. It had been this way for approximately five weeks now; ever since the whole "meet the Cullens: Hybrids extraordinaire" incident. I still remember that morning: I had stepped out of Alice's yellow Porsche (don't ask) and was met with hundreds of absolutely astounded faces. The new girl and the outsiders? Whaaaaaat?

People just couldn't seem to comprehend the fact that someone had managed to become friends with this tight lipped, close knitted group. I felt like freaking Britney Spears for a whole week. The whispers, the comments, the weird looks, the simpering bimbos looking to get to Edward through me…

Guess which one pissed me off the most?

I wasn't able to walk down the hallway without hearing, or _hearing_ things along the lines of:

"How the hell did she pull it off? I mean, they don't socialize with people…"

"Wonder what-or who- she did to get in with that group…"

"Hmph. Edward still seems to dislike her. Did you see the glare he just gave her?"

"Yeah, guess she didn't win them _all_ over…"

That I could handle. That, actually, was pretty funny to witness. These people had no clue what the hell was happening. They thought I was being a whore, or that my dad was forcing them to be my friends, or that I was secretly adopted by the clan. When, in all reality, the truth was simpler while at the same time more bizarre.

I was a freak. The Cullens were freaks. Add it up.

None of us were human and none of us were exactly prone to human behaviors. Let's take Edward for example: he and I decided to keep up appearances for appearances sake. He would glare, and ask to be moved away from me in Biology, huff at me, refuse to talk to me, while all the while laughing in his mind. I would know. Every time I touched him, he seemed to be thinking that either he was testing his strength at the moment, being so close to my extremely edible self, or he was trying to hold in the laughter. So I had a new lab partner named Ben, and poor Edward got stuck with Dyke. Ben was actually really cool and extremely smart, and I had the strangest feeling that he had a crush on Angela.

Or maybe I had accidentally brushed his arm a few times and heard him basically screaming her name at me in his head. He kept trying to think of ways to ask her out, to ask me about her, and many other more _vivid_ thoughts about Angela and- eh- other things. And so, being the extremely curious person that I was, I managed to get a hold of Angela. And found that her thoughts were the same. The two were head over heels for each other, so much so that their head had bypassed the heel and got plugged up their asses.

And it was my duty as an American citizen to make sure that they would _pursue_ their happiness. Plus I love to play matchmaker.

Their operation was yet to be put into action, because at the moment I was a little bit distracted with other romantic lives.

Or the lack of.

Yes, I am talking about myself.

I fell harder and harder for Edward with every day that passed. Whenever the sun was up, I watched him from afar, cautious and concerned for him (not myself) and when the moon was up, I was running as fast as possible to the Cullens mansion to see them all. I didn't get much sleep these days, but it was completely worth it. I mean, let's weigh my options here…sleep or Edward? What would you pick?

Okay, I'll answer that for you. Edward, of course.

We had so much in common: he liked a lot of the books I read, he liked a lot of the music I liked, we had similar opinions on just about everything, and he was fucking gorgeous to boot. How could I not have an extremely girly crush on him?

And Edward…well, he saw me as a friend. Just a friend.

Whenever we made contact I never heard one inappropriate thought or musing, not one. And it made me pretty damn sad. Even those little sparks of electricity between us when we made contact wasn't enough to cheer me up.

The only thing that consoled me in those dire, depressing, rejective moments was the reminder that Edward couldn't read _my_ mind. And thank you to any deity for that piece of good luck.

Because if he was able to see into my head, I'm pretty sure he'd be running away as fast as was Hybridly possible. If I was him, I would. But I don't want him to run away from me (although his ass does look fantastic when he runs…not that I watch it or anything) I want him to stay. As close as possible preferably. Like, glued to my side (or lips) every second for the rest of existence…

See what I mean? Bad, bad Bella.

But other than Edward and my friend complex, life was pretty good at the moment. I made a bunch of new friends and only two of them were normal. Alice and Rose were now on good terms with me, like _really_ good terms, and Emmett and Jasper were the big brothers I had never had. Esme was my new mom, just because I freaking loved the hell out of her, and Carlisle was having the time of his immortal life experimenting on me.

Actually, I was having a lot of fun too. Experimenting, that is.

There had been one other full moon since the first incident with the Cullens. And during that time, Carlisle and I did a little research. The week leading up to the beautiful lunar circle floating full in the sky was spent with test, after test, after test. How strong was I? How fast was I? Did I have cravings? What was my diet? What were my energy levels? Yadda, yadda, yadda.

During the day, I was able to lift about 250 pounds maximum. I could run a speedy fifty miles an hour for a prolonged amount of time and I had a normal human diet with normal human cravings. Like chocolate. I had a normal energy level, but I had super powerful vision. According to Carlisle, I had 20/2 vision, like a hawk. Which meant that if I stood twenty feet away from that irritating eye chart thing, I would be able to see the same thing a 'normal' person was seeing from two feet away. So I had zoom vision. I felt like a camera, moving in then out, looking closer then farther. It was an extremely amusing past time._ And_ I could see in the dark. No more tripping over unseen objects in the dead of night for me, nope! And my hearing was phenomenal. Which didn't really help with all the whispered comments at school.

But all this, of course, was my 'normal' behavior in my abnormally normal state.

At night, especially when the moon was present, everything changed.

My blood changed, I became stronger and faster. My vision and hearing were the same, but everything else?

It was like I had super powers.

At night, no moon present, my blood still took on a different scent, but I had the same physical abilities. But if even the tiniest sliver of moon showed, my abilities increased tenfold. I could lift at least five hundred pounds, run seventy five miles an hour, jump at least two hundred feet in the air and land gracefully and uninjured. I felt invincible, and my brown eyes took on a silvery sheen.

During the full moon I _was_ invincible.

I was faster than Edward and stronger than Emmet. I had more strength, speed, agility, and overall power than even Carlisle and Esme. Hunting a vampire during the full moon would be a piece of cake for me…as I already knew so well.

We discussed at length my capture of James and Victoria. How did I feel? Did I experience bloodlust? How did I destroy their memories? Were there any physical changes? Mental changes?

I told Carlisle that my nails had lengthened, my teeth had sharpened. I had felt an overwhelming sense to _punish_ after I drank their blood. I told him about the overwhelming urge to drink their blood; my all-encompassing satisfaction and bliss when the first drop of blood flowed into me. How delectable it had been…

That blood which I now know was left over from their recent human victims.

The blood I had taken from their bodies was the blood of someone else. It was just being stored there until it was used up by the vampire's body. Carlisle explained it all to me, calmed me down as I wallowed in disgust.

I will always be thankful for that, his kindness.

I showed him my silvery eyes when the next full moon came, and we tested out all our theories. Carlisle gave me contacts to wear around Charlie, so that he wouldn't notice my oddly silvered eyes. Everything was going along smoothly.

But, after all our research, all our experimentation, we still didn't know what I _was_.

I gave Carlisle a sample of my blood, but about a minute after it left my body it just…evaporated. And we still didn't have a way to examine it yet. So that little frustrating factor was still being worked on and I was still speculating.

Not just about who I was, what I was, but also about what I was capable of.

Carlisle had some theories though.

He believed that I was parts human, vampire, and something else…something unknown.

It explained my appearance, diet, and strange craving for blood. It explained my strength, speed, and special abilities. It explained a lot of things, just not my reaction to the moon. That we couldn't explain. And I was intent on finding out.

And another thing was the mind control. Carlisle thinks it was brought on by my drinking of blood. He said that the energy was used by my body to make my powerful gift even more potent, resulting in my receiving of every and all thoughts upon contact. And then my body had needed a way to release that energy, and it used that power, released that energy, by controlling the mind of another. By erasing and creating memories, by controlling thoughts and body. It was a very powerful gift, he said. One that I should use wisely.

Meaning no going to suck some pints of blood at a random hospital in order to convince Dyke's mind that he didn't want to ever step within five feet of me again.

It was tempting…but I had to be responsible. And not mess with people's brains.

Sigh. I never get to have fun.

"Bella? Bellaaaa?" I jumped at the sound. I turned to see Ben waving at me, trying to get my attention.

"Oh, sorry Ben. I was kind of out there in the nether." I blushed. Great, now I looked like a strawberry. Ben chuckled as the blood pooled in my loathsome cheeks. He knew how much I hated the blush.

"Did you hear anything Mr. Banner just said?" I shook my head no, still blushing. Ben pretended to be annoyed, but I could still see the bright gleam in his eye. Like I said, he was made of awesome. Ben then raised his right hand, holding all his fingers together tightly, pulled back his forearm so that his arm was bent in a ninety degree angle, and cupped his elbow with his left hand. Then his arm, which was imitating what looked to be a bird, darted forward and poked me on the shoulder. Hard.

"Ow! What the hell Benny boy!" He poked me again, probably for calling him Benny boy. He hated that nickname about as much as I hated Bellsa.

"Well Bellsy, you have been ostracized by the ostrich!" His arm swayed in a very ostrich like way. I wanted to laugh at his childishness but I was a little focused on what he had just called me.

'Did you just call me Bellsy? Really?" I pretended to sniffle, "And I thought I could trust you to not call me by ridiculous nicknames!" I fake wailed at him, burying my face in my hands. I heard a snuffle and peeked out between my fingers.

"Peek-a-boo Bellsy!" The ostrich poked my peeking nose. I huffed and crossed my arms.

"You are _such_ a child!" He grinned at me, his gray eyes twinkling.

"Yeah, we've gone over this before. And I happen to like the nickname Bellsy. It sounds a lot like Ballsy. Which you happen to be, fuck it very much," I giggled. Ballsy, Bellsy. I guess it wasn't that bad…

See what I mean? This guy was perfect for Angela! He was goofy enough to get away with calling me by a nickname and she was the introverted, shy type. I was just about to set operation Separate Head From Ass into motion but then Ben decided to ruin it by distracting me.

Darn me and my short attention span ways.

"So Banner wants us to do something a little bit different this month," my ears perked up at the word different. I happened to be wary of that word.

"And…" I motioned with my hand that he should continue talking. And fast.

"Well, as you so aptly know, it happens to almost be Halloween. So Banner and the History teacher, Ms. Fruck," we both let out an immature snicker at "Ms. Fuck's" appropriate name, "you know the one that has all those, eh, _extracurricular activities _with Banner after school?" I snickered again. Ah, the infamous teacher fuck Ms. Fuck and duck out of Biology B4. It was no secret that Banner's sloppy hair, crooked glasses, crooked buttons, and blissful smile as he walked into the parking lot before leaving at five every afternoon were courtesy of the History teacher.

"Well," Ben continued, "I guess they do more than play Twister after school. Banner's assigned us a scientific/historic representation of werewolves and he assigned us each a different cult that worshipped and/or believed in the supernatural doggies. We're supposed to do a research paper on our respective group and present it to both Banner and Fruck. It's like the biological, supernatural, historical research of not just the groups but on werewolves themselves," Ben actually looked excited at the thought of the project and I couldn't help but share his enthusiasm. It sounded like fun.

"So what cult are we researching?" Ben's eyes lit up as he pulled out his spiral and flipped to his notes page. I looked at the clock quickly; two minutes left of class.

"I believe they're called The Children of the Moon. Bella? Bella?" I watched dazedly as he waved his hand frantically in my face. But I couldn't pay attention to it. I was too preoccupied with the chills tingling on my spine, the sweat forming by my temple, the sleepy and super alert state of my body. I swayed where I sat; back and forth, back and forth.

The Children of the Moon.

Why did it feel like I _knew_ what that was? Who they were?

Why did I feel like I'd just been thrown in a vat of icy cold water?

I shook my head to clear the daze and focused on Ben's worried expression. I smiled at him, a very small, tired smile.

"Sorry, I'm just really tired today." He nodded carefully, his eyes still concerned.

"Alright," his voice was slow, cautious, "I guess I'll meet up with you after school at the library? We can go up to Seattle and check out the fuckmazing bookstores up there, and maybe get a coffee?" he backtracked quick at my amused expression.

"Not like on a date or anything! Stop looking at me like that! If it makes you comfortable, you can bring a friend?" I sat up straight at that comment. I knew _just _the friend to bring. I smiled at him. In a completely faux innocent way.

"Oh, I'll bring Angela! You know Angela Webber, right?" Ben's face went a volcanic red that rivaled even _my _blush. He looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Y-yeah, I know her," he mumbled, eyes darting around, Adam's apple bobbing, cheeks still a fiery magenta. I'm pretty sure my sugar sweet voice was at odds with the evil glint I could almost feel in my eyes.

"Yeah, I know you know of her. And I know that you would like to be a bit more acquainted with her, if you know what I mean. In a Ms. Fruck kind of way." Ben spluttered and stuttered as I mwahahad. This was waaaaaaay too much fun.

"See you on Saturday, Ben. I'll be sure to bring along Angela for shits and giggles," I winked and laughed evilly again as I waltzed out of the classroom, the bell shrill enough to block out Ben's squeaky denials. I skipped out to the parking lot and in a rare good mood, called out a jovial "See you Monday!" to a stunned Dyke. I hopped into Smithers, let the engine sputter and stutter to life in a very impressive impression of Ben, and chugged my way down the now rainy streets of Forks. I was soon home to an empty driveway and a still giddy mood.

I ran into the house, up the steps, turned into my room, and plopped onto the bed with a self-satisfied smile. Then I called up Angela.

The phone did a few annoying beeps before I heard her soft, shy voice on the other end.

"Hello?" I grinned. Angela had yet to figure out the mysteries of Caller ID.

"Hey Ange, it's Bella." We exchanged the warm greetings of 'what's up' and 'how's your day been' before I dropped the nuke.

"So, I'm going up to Seattle tomorrow to do some research for this absolutely radical project Banner and Fruck gave us, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Angela gave a little giggle at Fruck's name.

"Oh, I don't know… it's such a long drive and-" I cut her off. My voice was positively devious as I jump started operation Op. SHFA.

"Oh, and Ben Cheney's going with me, too. He's my lab partner and he said it was fine if I brought along a friend. And he _definitely _didn't argue when I mentioned your name." I let that last line hang. And was met by silence.

Then a squeak.

"Oh, well then-" I sighed down the line, wishing I could reach through and pull her up by her hair.

"Let's cut the bullshit, Angela. You've got something major for Benny boy and the feeling's mutual and if you don't agree to go up to Seattle with me and him tomorrow, I may just have to clobber you." Angela giggled.

"How'd you know?" I groaned.

"It was completely obvious, what with the coquettish looks and blush attacks whenever you two were in the same room," not completely true, but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her, "so will you go?" Angela chuckled.

"How could I refuse? You've promised me boy candy and a beating if I don't agree. Throw in a cup of coffee and some assurance that I'm not deluded in thinking that he might even notice me, and I'll promise you our first born," I laughed out loud.

"We'll stop at the Starbucks and I can assure you that yes, this will work. And no need to give me your baby, I can't stand kids!" We both giggled a bit more and then continued to talk about Angela's obsession for another ten minutes before I decided it was time to get to work.

I hung up, sat up, and stared cautiously at the dinosaur of a computer in the corner of my room. It glared back balefully, just daring me to throw it out the window to see if it would break.

I doubted it would.

"Okay you crotchety old hunk of technology, let's make a deal," I stood facing it, hands on my hips, " you work for me, and you do it semi fast, and I agree to buying you a pretty printer chick to make paper babies with you." The computer, which was never turned off for fear that it would never turn _on_ chirped at me in agreement. I rubbed my hands together and rolled up my sleeves.

Time to get down to business.

I cracked my knuckles and spread my fingers over the ancient keyboard as the dinosaur roared to life. Or, more accurately, wheezed. The screen went pitch black for a second before the mouse icon and the hated hourglass symbol showed up, telling me to be patient. I growled. The sands in the hourglass went slower.

"Come on…" the mouse finally shook off it's annoying cockblocker and I directed it towards the big blue E icon. Double click. It made a rusty, squeaking noise.

Jezuz, do I need to oil the computer mouse?

I tapped my fingers impatiently on the desk as the E tried to mature into a big beautiful connection to the world called the Internet. I watched with bored fascination as the little E morphed from its icon to a screen-filling, toolbar-less window, then pictures and words formed and Halleluiah! We're not in Kansas anymore Dorothy!

I looked around to see if there was any creeper in my window and then, seeing that the coast was clear, I pumped my fist victoriously.

Shut up. I get excited sometimes.

I typed "children of the moon cult werewolf" into the gorgeous browser called Google and waited.

And waited.

I was getting a bit frustrated when the thing finally popped out of nowhere, scaring the bejeezus out of me. I looked at the window with burgeoning hope. Then I saw the results number.

Over. 37, 000. Freaking. Hits.

I bashed my forehead into the desk.

Scrolling the first page was met with utter nonsense. Something about those Twilight books and Harry Potter: Remus Lupin. Then some dude was raving about how his son was convinced that he was a werewolf by an online cult, which managed to distract me. After another five minutes of searching though, I struck gold.

"The Children of the Moon: Werewolf Cult: History and Practices" I quadruple clicked until the stupid thing finally opened. And then I read.

There wasn't much. But it was enough to get me going.

"**The Children of the Moon: **in the 13th century, a group of moon worshippers rose up in the mystical lands of Ireland. They believed that the moon was the gateway to heaven and that it was their duty to keep this belief alive. They soon were driven out of their Catholic-orientated country and they settled somewhere in the West, which was also mainly Catholic, as the Orthodox Church was in the East. The Children of the Moon became obsessed with the folklore of werewolves and their attraction and ties to the moon. They believed that the werewolf was the true gatekeeper of the Moon and if the werewolves disappeared so too would the Moon. So they went in search of these mythical beasts, and, according to legend, they managed to find one. Supposedly, they found a crazed man wandering through the forests of Scotland in a half phase of transformation. They captured the man and had him bit one of their own before he died. They then contained their bitten member in a cage woven from willow branches to see whether or not he had been infected with the infamous "moon madness" inherited by all werewolves which took away their humanity and sanity at the time of transformation. The man, they were pleasantly surprised to find, transformed in a still sane state of mind and so, they had him bite the rest of their clan. A new breed of creature had been born in Scotland. Tales of hearing howling in the forests and flashes of large, beastly figures loping beneath the full moon led the Scottish natives to enter the forests with weapons in search of this crew of supernatural creatures. To their surprise, they found only one; it was badly wounded and limping, on the verge of death. They captured it easily, about to question it but they were unable to sustain its life. It uttered one chilling sentence before it passed away…

"They are gone, all gone. Captured, killed, taken, enslaved. The other had warned us, he told us to beware. I'll tell you what he said: Beware the dead who live. Beware the Mil-"

Or, at least, that's what the Scotts have recorded."

The rest of the article went on to debate what or what not the dying "werewolf" was about to say. But I felt like I knew. That last warning was on the tip of my tongue. I read it again, those weird chills racing down my spine. Mil… he said Mil… I gasped.

Could he have been about to say Millicent?

I was startled by the shrill ringing of my phone. I picked it up, the Caller ID flashing Alice across the screen. I smiled and pressed Talk.

"Hey Al-" she cut me off.

"Bella?" her voice was frantic, rough, "You need to get over here. _Now._"

* * *

Oooh, a cliffie! Too bad I'm going to be vacationing for a week upstate so I won't be able to write it all up!

Hehe, no worries though. I know what's going on. And you don't. Sucks to be you! :]

Tell me how much you hate me right now with a review. I don't blame you, trust me.


	16. The Boy Who Cried Wolf

_I'M BACK!_

_Disclaimer: Not mine, well kind of, but not really._

* * *

The Boy Who Cried Wolf

_In her mind she tried to time_

_The beginning of what she knew_

_In her head she put to bed_

_All she had to do_

_In her eyes we realize_

_That she is not as she seems_

_In her tears she bleeds her fears_

_Then chases off her dreams_

I stood at the doorway to the Cullen's goddamn mansion, being soaked and soaking in the rain, knocking until my fist turned as blue as the droplets of water currently freezing me up. I waited, I huddled in my jacket for warmth, I blew warm air on my frigid fists, and then the door was opened and I was pulled through.

"About time!" Alice smiled at me, hesitantly. Actually it was more a spastic twitch of the lips than an actual smile.

"What's up?" I knew this wasn't some stupid fashion emergency or something like that; no, this was serious. Her blue eyes were nearly swirling with panic and energy. She was absolutely _wild_ at the moment.

"Follow me." She dragged me behind her and through countless doors until we were out in the rain again, then racing across the yard into the shed. Interrogation room again? Uh oh.

The door crashed shut behind us, temporarily masking the urgent voices in the room. I heard the musical quality of Edward's perfect voice in the room. But it was almost drowned out by Alice's mind as our bare skin touched.

_You're not going to believe this. You really won't. But we've got a situation.._

"Involving?" She pulled her arm away and motioned for me to walk forward into the room and out of the little hallway. I turned the corner and found myself face to face with quite a scene. The Cullens were standing around arguing about what I'm sure was the giant heap of fur lying in the corner. It looked like a giant dog- a wolf but the size of a bear. I gaped at the monstrous thing just snoozing. If it wasn't so big it would've been kind of cute.

And it was pretty freaking intriguing. Oh, no, not because it was so big and absolutely random. Nope. I was intrigued because of the way the thing smelled.

It smelled, well, weird.

It had a disgusting, putrid, terrible, bitter, completely _right_ and _familiar_ smell. Like if you grow up around those corn factory things? And all you smell is that rancid and stale corn smell that you fucking hate with all your soul? But you've grown up around it so whenever you smell it all you can think about is home. So it sucks but you get used to it; and then it just sort of becomes part of your life, one of the things you can look back on somewhat fondly.

Yeah. Well super puppy smelled like a corn factory. Or, the analogy, at least. Oh you know what I mean!

Back to the point.

Edward's freaking beautiful body was tense, really tense, and he was growling. Not at the dog, exactly. He was growling at me, sort of. I guess.

And god was it sexy.

"Bella…" the other Cullens whipped around to see me standing there, gaping at the mongrel they were screeching about. Edward tried to stop breathing my epically dangerous scent (it was still the day time after all) in and the other Cullens watched me somewhat cautiously.

Don't ask me why.

"What are you doing here?" Carlisle tried ineffectively to stand within my view of Doggie. A little too late, Carlisle. We've already observed the "shag rug".

"Alice called me," I shrugged. Everyone else groaned in exasperation.

"What was the _one_ thing I asked you not to do?" Edward all but snarled at her with his limited breath. Alice smiled angelically.

"To not call Bella." She stared at him with wide eyes, using her evil pixie fairy magic to try and seem completely without fault.

Edward continued to glare. Then he turned and glared at Jasper.

"Stop trying to Influence me." Jasper grinned back at him, just like Alice did.

"Stop being so angry at my girl," he quipped. Edward growled again and then turned away, apparently out of air supply.

_Growl again please. At me preferably._

I am one fucked up individual. Really, I am.

"So what's the little, ah, pup ya got there in the corner?" I pointed at Scoobsie Doo and tried not to laugh when Carlisle attempted to hide it behind him.

"Oh, that's a werewolf Bella; one of the Quileute wolves from the reservation," I gaped at Esme as she tried to calmly explain to me that puppy bear was really a man wolf. Yeah, and I say _tried_, as in she totally completely failed in making herself sound calm. Actually she looked a bit frazzled. Apparently this whole werewolf thing was not a very good thing. And it didn't take an idiot to figure that out.

"Um, okay? And I'm guessing by your tone that this is not an especially good thing to happen?" Esme nodded, her eyes panicked like Alice's had been when she opened the door.

Yeah, definitely a bad situation.

Wolfie started pawing at the ground in the corner and whining, his legs moving frantically like he was running and his breath rasping in, out, in, out. I hoped his dreams were of chasing rabbits, not, well, vampires.

Or hybrids. Or things like me. Whatever I am.

"Okay then, I think you need to give me some story time. What's up with the Quileute Wolves? How'd you find this guy and what's so bad about you finding him here?" Alice smiled feebly at me and motioned at Esme. I turned, grabbed one of the chairs against the wall, straddled it, and waited to hear another of her fantastic explanations.

Esme had a way with words.

"Well," she began, "according to legends, the Quileute Wolves are just that; wolves. They were shape shifters in the beginnings of their clan, but when their clan was threatened and nearly destroyed, they had to take a permanent form to eliminate the danger. They took the form of the wolf, and unlike traditional wolves, they have had an amazing amount of control over their animalistic forms. They, like we vegetarians and Hybrids, were an anomaly in the supernatural world." I was already under her bewitching spell. Esme would have given the Grim Brothers a run for their money.

"So when Carlisle first met them when he moved out to this land, he was undoubtedly intrigued. And they, in turn, were intrigued by his golden eyes. He explained to them of his strange diet and they explained to him what they were, and what they were made for." Her eyes seemed glazed, like she was imagining the meeting. Carlisle came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist; Esme instantly relaxed.

"They were created, in a way, to kill vampires. It was what they seemed to be best at. And they had had no need for their powers until we came around. The Quileute leaders explained to him that our presence must stay off the Reservation, because the presence of vampires caused the presence of more young Wolves. And they didn't want to have to curse their generation with the burden of the supernatural. So Carlisle agreed to stay on our side of the land and not make any contact with the Quileute tribe and their kind. And in turn they promised not to cross onto our land; although they could cross onto our land and destroy us if we took so much as one drop of human blood. He promised to do no more than alert the Elders if one of their own crossed into our territory, so that they could be dealt with quietly. But still it was a double catch," she sighed tiredly.

"Sometimes the younger wolves were, well… they were decidedly violent. And when he brought the Hybrids and I into his family, after consulting the tribe of course, some of the newer ones crossed into our territory to 'eliminate the leeches' as I think I remember them snaying." Carlisle's eyes took on a hard glint.

"Needless to say we fought back, and there were casualties…on their side. The previously amiable relationship between us and the tribe became tense, strained. This happened about fifty years ago. Resentment still rests in the Quileute today. They tolerate us, but they are no longer friendly. They hate us for killing one of their own, even if it was in self defense. And they hate _me_ even more, for it was I who had done it. Me, the newest vampire, the strongest and youngest, the one who'd just fallen in love." She gripped Carlisle's arms tightly.

"I was scared and I was in survival mode. I killed one of the younger wolves who went for Carlisle when his back was turned. And you know what? I don't regret it, even now." Her eyes burned furiously. I admired her for that resolute protection, but I could see in those invisible lines that she was haunted by that killing, and would be, for eternity.

Poor Esme.

I walked over to her and hugged her, needing her to know that I understood, but I stepped back just as quickly and inclined my head at her smile. She continued.

"And now that one is on our land, and obviously knocked out, we must continue with caution. We must stick to the truth of the matter which is that we found him this way, we didn't put him in this condition," she motioned to the snoring wolf.

It whined in its sleep, legs twitching as if it were chasing after something in its dreams. I smiled; it was kind of…cute in a way. The dog gave a loud snort and then suddenly it came to. One moment it was lying on the floor, drooling. Next it was backed in a corner, hackles raised, growling lowly. It bared its teeth menacingly at the Cullens and we all backed away.

Well, maybe I shouldn't say we. Maybe I should say _they _backed away.

I don't know why I did it, maybe I'm finally insane or something, but I figured "I've got super strength, I'm not scared of a big old dog," I mean, sure, this big dog was a really big dog with really big teeth and very large claws, but I figured, whatever, I could take him on.

Yeah. An insane asylum somewhere is signing me onto their 'New Patients' list.

"Hey there," I smiled and patted my knees as I slowly inched toward the dog.

"Bella, _what_ do you think you're doing?" the beautiful velvet voice was rough as Edward tried to figure out whether or not I had a brain.

I decided to not answer and got even closer to the dog, who was now whining, hackles half raised. He pulled out of the crouching position as I held out my hand to smell. He took a sniff or two and then…

He leaped.

I felt a few hundred pounds of do-wolf push me to the floor and then, before I could scream, his mandibles of death were descending towards me. God, I am sorry. Let Edward be regretful of his loss at a chance with me when I die.

So there I was, praying to the deity, when the dog decided to _lick _me. A big slobbery, wet, saliva filled lick.

"Ewwww…" the slobbery dog panted at me in an adorable yet gross way.

"Move you big lug," the wolf/dog did so happily, tail wagging back and forth as I stood up and brushed myself off, wiping away all that fucking drool.

Once again, ewwww.

"Who's a good doggie?" the wolf jumped up and down, banging the ceiling with his giant head. His tongue was hanging out and his tail was wagging. He was pretty adorable. I smiled at him and ran my hands through his soft russet fur. I wrapped my arms around his neck, because I was getting just a _teensy_ bit attached when I turned to see the Cullens staring at me.

They were obviously in shock.

Their eyes were wide, as were their mouths, and they were all standing super still. I giggled at Emmett, mountain man was being blown away by little breezy me.

The only one not in shock was Edward. And Edward looked _angry._

"Bella, you do know that's a man, right? Not a puppy dog, but a dangerous man," the dog growled at him playfully and I stuck my tongue out at Edward. I didn't care if this was really some creepy old dude, he was flipping adorable. I hugged the doggie tighter and it gave Edward what looked like a superior look; Edward glared some more.

"Jealous?" Alice asked playfully, as she got over her amazement of me making friends with yet another supernatural being. And then something absolutely shocking happened.

Edward _blushed._ Like a legit blush.

"No," he said shortly, "I just don't want her to get hurt." I grinned at Edward as I petted the wolf again, just to annoy him. His lips twitched in a small smile. But I was no longer concentrating on him, I was hearing something in the background, something fuzzy. It had little traces of static but as I paid attention it became clearer.

It was a voice. The dog's voice.

_She smells different; like us, but like them too…_

_**Where are you? What are you talking about?**_

_I've never encountered this before. It's so different, yet so nice. She smells nice. And she's pretty cute too._

_**Jacob, who the hell are you talking about? And where are you?**_

_Bloodsucking territory, I don't know how but I'm here. _

_**Leech land? What are you playing at; we don't cross their border they don't cross ours. **_

_Don't worry, no harm's been done…yet._

It was like two different voices in his head at once, having a conversation. It was confusing and not something I was used to; and why did it sound so fuzzy at first, why did I have to concentrate to hear? And the conversation itself was confusing. Who do I smell like? Who's he talking to?

The only thing I knew for sure was that his name was Jacob.

"Jacob?" I looked him in the eye.

_What? How does she know my name?_

"I can hear your thoughts. Does that answer it for you?" the dog stared at me, then pulled away abruptly. It started changing, shaping into something different; the hair pulled back, the limbs shortened and fined themselves out, the head shrunk, arms and legs and body parts organized themselves into something resembling a human until a tall Native American man stood before us. Well maybe he was more of around seventeen, not exactly a man, but still. A human.

And a darn cute one at that.

He was about six foot four, with short midnight black hair and russet colored skin, like his fur. He had the fine features of the Native American people: high cheekbones, straight nose, and large smile. Oh and that one little dimple on his cheek? I wanted to kiss it. But I wanted to kiss that beautiful eight pack of his more…and the pecs…and the biceps…and all that beautifully toned muscle.

Okay, scratch cute. He was smoking.

And I'd be all over him too if it wasn't for the Hybrid vampire growling behind me. because Jacob was smoking but Edward had basically created fire. And I was very nearly in love with Edward. Or maybe I just had a really abnormal and unhealthy obsession with him that was sadly incurable, I don't know. Summary being that Jacob was hot but I _really_ had a stronger preference for Edward. Gah, Edward. I mean, I wanted to lick Edward's eyebrows; it doesn't get more pathetic than that…I hope. Not that it really matters, anyway; neither of them would ever be interested in plain old me.

"Hi, I'm Jacob, and did you say you could read minds?" he held his hand out to me. I didn't shake.

"I'm Bella Swan, and yeah I can read minds, but only if I make physical contact first." I smiled at him, waiting for him to take his hand away. But he didn't. He just kept smirking in a way that showed off his pretty little dimple.

And I'm sure he knew that.

So I took his hand and shook.

_Hey Bella, got a boyfriend?_

"No," I'm sure I looked confused.

_Mind if I apply for the position then?_

He winked at me and I blushed all the way to my toes. I let go of his hand and cleared my throat awkwardly. I was totally flattered but still…_Edward._ And speaking of Edward, Hottie Numero Uno decided to grab my arm and pull me behind him as he faced the big bad wolf. I only got hold of one little thought as I made contact.

_Rude, pig, cocky, bastard, asshole, dog…_

_Mine!_

No bloodlust, at least.

The first half of the thought was not very happy and the second one was strongly possessive, but sadly, I had no idea what he was talking about. Me? Maybe?

Yeah in my dreams.

"Why are you on our land?" Well nice way to get to the point Edweird. Jacob smiled at him in a knowing way, that dimple still peeking out. He winked at me again and then the smile was gone. In its place was a very serious expression.

Ooooh, it's business time.

"I was following a strange scent. We caught hold of it a few days ago, around this area. It was a very…confusing…scent. It smelled like there was a wolf on your land. And, being curious, my pack sent me to investigate. And I was following the scent up until a few days ago, when I caught something else, something similar but _older…_" his features clouded over, like mist rolling in right before the sun rises. He shook his head.

"And I almost had it but then…then…something happened, I can't really remember," his eyes screwed up in conversation, "someone or something…knocked me out? I don't really know. Maybe I just fell down in exhaustion, I've been going for days without sleep." The Cullens looked equal parts skeptical and worried but they held their tongues.

"And then I wake up in this room, with pretty little Bella over there waking me up," I blushed, Edward scowled, "and now my pack is on the way." Carlisle and Esme growled at him lowly.

"Why have you called the pack? We didn't do anything, you admitted it yourself!" Alice was hopping with rage. The pack on their land was apparently a big no, no. I guess the hatred really did run pretty deep between the two groups.

"Oh, I know that," he smiled again, "but I had some interesting information to relay to them when I woke up. I found what we've been tracking." Edward gasped and then so did Alice. Not good, not good at all.

Please, please don't let it be me…

"What? Where?" Rosalie, of course, out with the big question. Edward pulled me back farther. Another bad sign.

_Not her, not her, not her…_

Not me, not me, not me…

Jacob pointed at me. Of fucking course.

"It's her. She's the scent we've been looking for. But it's not _just_ a wolf you have on your land." Wait what did he mean, not _just_ a _wolf_?

"She smells like us, so she's got some wolf in her. But she smells like you too. I'm almost positive that she's a hybrid of wolf and vampire, maybe even human, something my people haven't seen in hundreds of years," Jacob grinned around at the stunned faces, including mine.

"You've got a Witch on your hands."

* * *

Sorry guys, I had a little writer's block and a super busy summer, but now I'm back to work :(. But I have more time for story writing! :). YAAAY!

CHEER WITH ME.

Oh, and sorry for the cliffie, I just couldn't resist.

Getting Edward to come to life? $20 for a really nice poster. Hating SM's version of Bella (yet loving mine)? $10 to make your own personalized dart board. Reviewing this chapter and worshipping me? Priceless.

Love you all!


	17. Kaleidoscope

Hey there. Again.

Sheepish smile.

I'm back. Woohoo?

Disclaimer: Don't kill me please. I own the fuck ups and that's about it. SM rules all. NO COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.

* * *

"_What _did you just call me?" A witch? Really? I mean, I believe in vampires and werewolves but that's as far as I'll go. Witches are a big no. _Especially_ if I'm supposed to be one of them.

"I am not riding around on a broomstick. Or playing Quidditch. Or growing warts and brewing potions or having a black cat either. Cats are freaky. And if any of you, and I repeat, _any_ of you attempt to burn me at some witch barbecue I will come back from the dead and _hunt you down_, got it?" I gave them my most severe look before cracking up at their genuinely frightened expressions.

"You should've seen your face just then Jizzy." And then I laughed harder at his expression when I said Jizzy.

"What? Would you rather she called you Jizz-spurt?" Emmett piped in. Oh Emmett, you're just too much. But back to the matter at hand, or at paw in Jacob's case…

I am so easily distracted.

"So I'm a witch?" Jacob nodded in confirmation.

"Broomsticks and warts aside, yeah. You're a witch." He chuckled at me. I do not like being chuckled at. Especially when I don't know what's supposed to be funny.

"Something amusing you?" Edward smiled at my acerbic tone. But then I glared at him too, which toned it down a bit.

"No," Jacob chuckled again, "I'm just enjoying your naivety while it lasts."

Alright. I was starting to dislike him a little teensy weensy bit. I waved my hand in a "get on with your fucking explanation please" way and, thankfully, he got the point.

"Well (chuckle)," I'm going to rip your balls off Mutt, "the normal people have been getting this whole witch thing wrong for millennium. Look at Oz, Halloween, cute little Casper and Wendy. They're all pretty far off. I know this and I don't even know that much about witches." I tried really hard to not roll my eyes. He's being a huge know-it-all and he _doesn't even know that much_. Typical.

"Okay then. What _do _you know?" He gave me a toothy grin. Probably thought he was all that, bastard.

"Well, my clan was visited by a witch hundreds of years ago. According to legend, she had come to tell them how to use their powers in protection against the rising threat of vampires. What we know from the legends is obscure, but we've managed to gain enough to have a bit of rough background info."

"A witch is a hybrid of human, vampire, and werewolf ancestry. But the werewolf in the witch is pure, unadulterated, moon phasing wolf, like the ones in popular culture. Our clan is made up of shape shifters, not true werewolves. We phase when we want to, not when the moon dictates it." He puffed out his chest, proud of his Mutt status. Stupid dog.

Then again, I seem to be part dog too. Which would explain my creepy obsession with the moon. Jeez, even thinking about it has my wanting to run on all fours and howl.

"We don't really know where the witch went after she helped us, but we do know that the pack was later approached by vampires and was able to defend itself using her advice. The only other things we know are that witches are more powerful than humans on an average basis, after their turning point that is-"

"Wait, what? Are you saying something along the lines of puberty?" Because I went through puberty a _long_ time before any of this shit started. Jacob grinned again. I was ready to bite him.

"Not exactly. Witches' powers don't really start to develop until they are exposed to vampires and/or werewolves. So this all started when you met the Cullens." I was flabbergasted. Was he saying that I wouldn't be going through this crazy phase thing if I hadn't met the Cullens? I wasn't sure if I should've been angry about that or indifferent. At the moment I would ignore it, seeing as Mutt was already talking again.

"As I was saying, they are usually stronger than humans and they continue to get stronger each moon cycle until they reach their full potential. I'm not sure as to that time limit, however. Witches are always the strongest when the moon is full, to the point where they can easily overpower a vampire or wolf. At that point, they will have the urge to drink vampire blood which will make them even stronger. And when they hit that kind of power, well… I also know that the gift which each witch has is magnified when the blood is taken, causing them to be a formidable and almost animalistic creature. I've never seen it but it has to be magnificent." His eyes went almost glassy and I knew that I could _never _like him. I'd seen the kind of torture I put others through when I hit that limit. Anybody who wanted it was not a person I could ever associate myself with.

Edward looked at me worriedly when Mutt mentioned the blood thing. I shook my head, deciding not to dwell on it.

"And that's the limit of my knowledge. So now that I've helped you out, I think you owe me a favor." I barely had time to comprehend that last sentence before Edward was crouched before me, tense and snarling at the Mutt, who was still moronically smiling.

"She. Is. _Not_. Going. _Anywhere._ With. You." Edward growled out menacingly but Mutt wasn't even fazed. He ignored Edward and looked to me, flashing that stupid smile of his.

"I have to take you to my elders. We have reason to believe that you or one of your kind has been trespassing on our lands." Emmett joined in on Edward's growling.

"She has only just found out that she _has_ her own kind, as you can see, _Jacob_," Carlisle valiantly managed to keep the disdain mostly out of his voice. Jacob put his hands up.

"They still want her to come. I promise she won't be hurt, just questioned and introduced to our treaty. We have a right to know what we might have to protect our people from. Although," he grinned that infuriating grin again, "it might be _you_ who needs the protection."

I blew up with that last comment. How dare he? How dare he insinuate that I hurt these people? How dare he think that I couldn't control myself? He just laid out my biggest fears with that comment and I wanted to shred him into small pieces for even bringing it out into the open. That rushing power took a hold of me and my vision went hazy with rage.

I felt myself pounce over Edward and tackle Mutt to the ground with a snarl. The Cullens were shouting at me but I couldn't hear them. I pinned the bastard by the neck and held him there, like a small puppy. I focused on the fear in his expression with delight.

"Don't you _ever_ think I'd do anything to them ever again. I care for them and they are protected by that. You? Not so much." I hissed it into his face, pulling back when his frenzied thoughts became too much for me to handle.

I felt arms around my waist lifting me from the Mutt and pulling me into a strong chest. I relaxed when I realized it was Edward and leaned back against him. He placed his chin on my shoulder and tightened his arms around me,

_Calm down Bella, he's just a stupid dog. I know you would never hurt us._

I felt the anger leave my body until only a small amount of annoyance was left. I turned in Edward's arms and smiled up at him before giving him a tight hug and pulling away to face the Mutt again.

"You are an asshole, I hope you know that, but I'll go with you." I held my hand up to the exclamations in the room and felt my heart quiver just a small bit at Edward's astonished snarl.

"I know you guys have gotten into trouble with the dogs in La Push. I don't want any repeat performances of that. Trust me, it's not because I _want_ to go." I glared coldly at Jacob, whose flippant smile was missing for once.

"You can leave. I'll come tomorrow night, and I _don't_ need your assistance. If I don't show up by midnight feel free to come find me." He nodded solemnly and sauntered past the Cullens out the door. Alice gave him a rather nasty hand gesture.

Immediately I felt a hand on my waist, pulling me closer to the body attached to it. Judging by the tingles of warmth running down my spine, it had to be Edward. He spun me around and placed his hands on my shoulders. His fiery green eyes stared into mine, infuriated.

_What the _hell_ are you thinking?_

I smiled. His anger was kind of cute, in a way. Or maybe I'm just a freak.

"I can handle myself. Full moon tomorrow, remember? I could probably round up Mutt's puppy pack and have them as dog chow at my feet if I chose." That got a smile out of him. But he was not to be deterred and gave me the stern look again.

"We're going with you up to the border though. Any problems and you call me." I nodded and moved away from him, deciding it was best to get out of the shed. I really didn't like it in there.

He latched onto my hand again, one urgent thought making its way through his skin.

_Are you sure about this?_

I nodded at him, internally rejoicing at the concern in his tone. Edward cared about me, this I knew. I just didn't know the extent of that care.

"Leave Bella alone, Edward. She's a big girl now." Edward huffed and dropped my hand at Alice's impetuous voice. He turned and walked with the rest of the Cullens back to the house. I lagged behind, opting to converse with Alice instead.

"That was totally bad ass, how you just took that mother effer down! Gah I hate the wolves, they smell bad." I shrugged. They didn't smell great, sure, but I wasn't opposed to their smell. Maybe just their attitude, if Jacob was anything to go by.

We made it out of the house and I told Alice to go on ahead, I just wanted to be alone for a bit.

The moon was nearly full up ahead, giving light to the dark sky. I stared at it, eyes wide and longing. I didn't even know what it was about the moon, but it just… every time I saw it there was just an ache in my chest. It was so beautiful, and right, and perfect. It felt like _home_. I closed my eyes and breathed in deep, smelling the nightlife and the wood's spicy scent.

_Maybe I should go to the clearing. The view will be even better._

I opened my eyes, gazing adoringly at the moon again before turning towards the dark tree line. I started walking with only the sounds of the wind swishing through the leaves to accompany me. My steps were even, unhurried as I trudged along. I started humming in time with my pace.

_You walk a lonely road_

_On your own_

_You walk with even stride_

_The end is nigh_

_The end's in sight_

_You smile occasionally_

_When it's there it's sweet_

_But it goes so fast_

_Days pass_

_They're in the past_

_Reach a fork on the path_

_Walk on straight, just like that_

_Make your own way_

_Or just say_

_You will stay._

A forgotten tune, a sweet little melody that I just barely remembered. The voice in my mind, though, was different. I didn't recognize it. I _had _heard it, but I the when, where, and who were a bit difficult to pin. I decided not to worry about it and continued humming and singing the words until I reached the clearing.

I strolled to the middle and lay down, still singing the tune. Arms bent and eyes rose to the moon, feasting in the white light. It was so peaceful, so bright and free with only myself, my voice, and the presence of Night. The stars twinkled at me and the moon slipped away as my eyes slid shut, lulled to sleep by the peacefulness.

"_Bella," a smooth sweet voice was whispering in my ear. I opened my eyes to look into the face of a being as beautiful as the moon. Her eyes were a silvery color, her features dainty and fine. Her hair was a deep, dark black, like the night, and her smile was brighter than any star._

"_Oh that's a nice description…I like it." Had I said all that out loud? She smiled again._

"_Yes, Bella, you did. I don't mind, honestly. Humans are always saying that I'm 'as beautiful as the sunrise', which, in my opinion, is not beautiful at all. The sun is highly overrated, don't you agree?" I nodded dazedly, willing to agree to anything she said. She giggled and hugged me suddenly. She was warm and smelled of pine._

"_My name's Luna. If you need me I'll be around, don't worry." She pulled away and her eyes twinkled at me, brighter and more beautiful than the moon._

"_Don't be afraid to love, Bella. Don't let Renee win." And then she was gone._

The dream shifted, took on a different setting.

_The woman was dancing again, in and out of the light. The red eyes followed her; the green eyes simpered at her. But this time, she took the little boy's hand and he danced with her. She extended her hand to the red eyes in the darkness and beckoned them forward._

_And I saw something in those eyes I never thought I'd be able to._

_Fear._

The dream switched again. A swirl of color and disorientation.

_The woman and the wolf were running again. Something was following them. I crept closer, wanting to see what was happening, but they moved further away. They broke away from the forest. The moon rose. They stared; they stopped. I advanced. And when I got close enough I saw the woman's face. _

_She was pale, with dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. She gazed lovingly at the moon, stroking the creature beside her. A crack behind us; we turned._

_Green eyes._

_Edward stared at me, panting and crazed. He started to rush towards me. I looked around wildly for the woman; she was nowhere to be seen. The wolf flipped me onto its back and ran. Edward chased. _

_I turned forward to see an ocean then turned back to see another familiar figure. Dark red eyes with raven black hair. Pale, thin skin. Aro chased us to the shore, catching us before we could jump. He grabbed me. A tumble of fur, a screech, the blue-eyed woman was holding my other arm. The wolf was gone._

_They tugged at me, one in each direction, until I felt like I would rip in half._

_I screamed._

_They shattered._

_Like fragmented glass, a kaleidoscope of color and noise; theY fell apart and I stood alone, a stained glass window, covered in what was left of them._

I sat up, breathing hard, sweat beading on my scalp and palms. What was that even about? I barely remembered the dream; it was just out of my reach, fog slipping through my grasping fingers. All I could see were eyes, blue, green, red. Colored glass.

What was happening to me?

I stood and shook myself, staring up at the sky again before turning and running away from the Cullens and this messed up world. I hoped Alice would see me leaving. I didn't want them to worry; I just wanted to go home. I wanted stability, normal. I wanted to sit in my room, like a normal girl, and crush on Edward for a few hours. I didn't want to worry, I didn't want to interpret dreams. I just wanted to be a teenager for a little bit.

I could deal with all the rest of it later.

* * *

I am SOOO sorry! If you want to crucify me I don't blame you. I would be pissed too. I'm going to try and update more often, but if I don't, well...

I can say for sure that this story WILL be finished. Someday. SO, hah, i won't just randomly dissapear for a year or something ridiculous like that. Yeah. Unless i die, of course. But that would suck balls sooo..

If you could find the sympathy to do so in your heart...

Review?


	18. My Furious Prince Charming

Disclaimer: I own Hybridwitchiness and basically nothing else. And I hope you enjoy my Christmas present to you!

* * *

My heartbeat stuttered frantically as I stared at the ceiling, hands under my head. I breathed evenly, trying to calm it down, but it continued. Breathe, Bella. Sleep.

But I couldn't. It was morning.

I'd not gotten a wink of sleep last night. I was too hyped up with everything that had happened. Jacob, me being a witch, Edward, everything. And I was still slightly freaking out about it.

I'm a witch. What a joke.

I closed my eyes uselessly, hoping against hope that I would finally lose consciousness. But no luck, because Pogo decided to start up at that very moment.

A slow, soft piano flowed out of the alarm clock, completely at odds with the rooster glaring at me in a patronizing way.

"_Come here, oh my star is fading. And I swerve out of control. And if I'd, if I'd only waited, I'd not be stuck here in this hole."_

I can relate, trust me.

"_Come here, oh my star is fading. And I swerve out of control. And if I'd, if I'd only waited, when will I get out of this hole."_

My heartbeat slowed. My eyelids drooped.

"_And time… is on your side. It's on your side, now. I'm pushing you down. And all around, oh it's no cause, for concern…"_ I yawned and snuggled under the blankets as the piano started up again.

"_So come here, oh my star is fading. And I swerve just out of reach. And I know, I'm dead on the surface. But I am screaming underneath- and time, is on your side. It's on your-"_

And I was asleep.

~C~

The sunlight outside my window pulled me up and away from the deep slumber holding me captive. I blearily stared at the ceiling before yawning and stretching my limbs. Hmm, what was today? Saturday…. Saturday?

"Fuck!" I tumbled out of bed, Pogo pointed cheekily to the number one on the clock. I grabbed my phone and dialed Angela's number.

"C'mon, c'mon…" my leg jittered and my static hair stuck to my face as I stared the phone down. I'm almost positive that I looked like a psycho. Which I was. But still.

"Bella?" Angela's voice cut off the annoying ringing sound and I sighed in relief.

"Where are you? We were supposed to have met up by now!" I groaned. I'm such an idiot. But wait-

"So you're already on your way up?" Angela huffed and honked her horn just to prove she was, indeed, in the car.

"Yes." I smiled at her affronted tone. And then my smile became devious as my light bulb went on.

"Oh, I think you should just go without me. I'm not feeling so good." I coughed for measure.

Silence.

"You are the worst liar."

"I know. But I don't want to get in the way of your potential engagement!"

"This is _your _project, is it not?" I grinned.

"Yeah, but really. How do you expect me to get any work done with you and Lover Boy and a cup of Starbucks coffee? I'll either be too busy teasing you guys or too catatonic by the wonders of coffee in latte form to be of much use. So I vote you go have your first of many dates with Ben the benevolent and get some research books." I could almost _feel _the happy rolling off of her.

"Bella. Have I mentioned that you are just absolutely boss?"

"Yes, you have. But it wouldn't kill you to mention it _more_." She chuckled.

"Oh shush you. Now be good and I'll go get my Prince Charming. I promise if this works out I'll help you snag Edward Cullen." She outright laughed at my stuttered response.

"You're blushing aren't you?" I vehemently denied it before teasing her more and hanging up. I left my phone and ignored my messy room, choosing to get dressed instead. Ten minutes, a pair of difficult Doc Martens, and a skinny jeans/ black ripped sweater combo later I was out the door with a cup of black coffee and sitting in my truck. With abso-fucking-lutely nowhere to go. Charming.

I sipped my coffee, bashed my head against the steering wheel, and then decided I might as well go down to Port Angeles, since Seattle was out of the question what with Angela and Ben reconnecting or whatever, and actually do some research on this Children of the Moon mumbo-jumbo. Werewolves. I'm part werewolf. Maybe it's connected?

I shook my head and started up the car. I had a busy day ahead of me and I damn well was going to get it done. All of it.

My phone started ringing.

"Bella!" Alice's voice wafted over the speaker phone, none of its sickening cheer and hyper tenor left out of the digital transaction.

"Alice. You called?" I rolled my eyes. What a dork. Of course she called, thus her speaking on my phone.

"You're such a dork," See?

"Do you wanna come over today? I know Edward wouldn't mind!"

"Yeah. I bet Edward wants his favorite steak to come over today." Alice groaned in an annoyed way.

"I forgot. Jeez I hate not being able to 'see' you! It's so frustrating! And the whole blood changing at night thing! Ugh, why can't you just be a simple weirdo?" I chortled.

"I'm sorry I can't be a normal freak Alice. I know you're only miffed that I make you feel like a regular person."

"Humph. Shut up, Smella, or I'll never forgive you for calling my husband Jizzy." I burst out laughing at that, oh I'm a genius sometimes.

"Tell Assper I'm sorry." I giggled as Alice harrumphed again.

"Whatever. I'll tell him that and he'll just mess with your emotions. You'll be a horny mess when you get within ten feet of Edward if 'Assper' has anything to say about it."

_Already _am_ a horny mess whenever I'm within ten feet of Edward. I don't need Jizz-spurt to help me in that arena._

"I'm shaking in my boots. You're just _so_ threatening." I deadpanned. Alice sighed.

"I'll see you later tonight. You know, before I go to the dog pound or whatever." That sobered her up.

"Where are you going?" Alice sounded worried.

"Port Angeles. Don't fret, hon. I'm a big, bad witch now."

"Still, be careful." I told her I would and she hung up. I had an hour or so to kill so I pulled out my iPod and put it on high volume.

"_Don't worry about a thing. Cuz every little thing is gonna be alright. Singin' don't worry about a thing. Cuz every little thing is gonna be alright."_

Sorry Mr. Marley, you've got great rhythm but I'm afraid that I don't believe you.

~C~

"And that'll be three fifteen." I dug the money out of my bag, accepting the latte with something close to reverence. _This _is the kind of stuff Forks is missing out on. The kind of stuff _I'm _missing out on in Forks. The Starbucks stuff.

"Thank you, have a nice day." I nodded to the overtly cheerful chick behind the counter and sniffed at the delicious aroma coming from the cup. My coffee had gotten cold and I had seen a Starbucks. The stars just aligned and all that.

I carefully walked out of the lovely, warm, sophisticated, cozy, heavenly store and approached my behemoth truck. The Starbucks latte was placed oh so carefully in the cup holder and I took extra pains to not even brush a bump on my way out of the lot.

Coffee, yum; the most satisfying of simple joys.

I was in Port Angeles and on my way to the bookstore. And it was kind of cold so I didn't feel like walking. The happy person in the Starbucks (hell, I'd be happy too, if I worked there) told me where to go and wasn't that far. So all I was required to do was sit back, drive, relax, and watch the road and the little steam swirlies rising from my drink.

Wow, I am one attentive person. You can always count on me to be focused and on track. Not.

A few agonizing minutes of coffee cooling later, I was finally sipping my drink and pulling up to Odyssey Books, a cute little green brick building with the words "Odyssey Books & Gifts" blocked on the outside. The window displays were promising so I snatched my lovely caffeine fix, my handy dandy shoulder bag, my keys, and headed in.

I approached the elderly man behind the register.

"Um, where would I go for books on werewolves?" I did my best to sound sweet and saccharine. That was the best way to get to these people.

"Depends," he smiled, his gray eyes twinkling at me, "what kind of werewolf book you searching for?" his voice was heavily accented, lilting and foreign. Almost…Italian? German? I suck at accents.

All I know is that he pronounced werewolf like "warevulf".

"I guess history of cults having to do with said werewolf. Do you have anything on the Children of the Moon? Maybe?" Something flashed in the man's eyes, making them less twinkly and more mist like. I don't trust mist. It hides things.

"Yah, yah we do!" He smiled at me, a wary kind of smile. Then he led me through a maze-like stack of books, pointing out some dusty ones in the corner.

"There. Warevulf, Moon Child, all there." He turned on his heel and went back to the register. But even out of sight, what with all these books between us and such, I could still feel those shifty mist eyes on me, watching. Waiting.

I shivered.

The first book was useless, all about moon phases and scientific mumbo jumbo. The second wasn't much better. But the third, whose cover was almost worn to the bone, was about Celtic tribes. And one in particular took up a couple chapters.

"_13__th__ century, believed to be have originated in Ireland. Worshipped the moon and believed that the servants of the moon were the spirits of wolves. They called these beings man wolves, or werewolves. The werewolf was only present during a full moon, so the Children, as they were referred to, would gather in the woods beneath the full moon, invoking the blessings of the spirit wolves under the moon. Few documents have been saved from their time period about them, but what is known is that around the year 1346, the cult mysteriously disappeared. Theories include mass death by the Black Plague, genocide, or mass suicide. Answer still unknown."_

There was a chapter on their daily lives and another on their ceremonies and religious practices. One paragraph in particular caught my eye.

"_The Children of the Moon, besides believing in werewolves, also explicitly believed in other supernatural creatures. Such as vampires and witches. Writings saved describe their perception of the witch as, "An unholy union of those we call Vampyre, Spirit Wolf, and Human. Female only, as the women can so ably accept and adapt to those things men can not, and deadly in aspect. Witches with brother demons, father Vampyre, and mother Wolf who love not her child. For only hatred can create such a spirit, so unnatural as they be." This perception greatly differs from the generally accepted vision of croons leaning above their deadly potions and spellbooks, although one mustn't be surprised. These were, even then in the Age of Superstition, a strange people."_

My heart beat faster. _Mother wolf who love not her child._ Was that it? Was that why? Is it all Renee's fault?

The room seemed smaller, darker, suffocating. The walls were getting closer and stumbling in on me. I shook my head and stood, only a small bit woozy. I smiled at the man, too… whatever I was to be worried about those frazzling eyes. Once outside, the fresh air on my face, I felt I could breathe again. I jogged to my car and stepped in, Starbucks cup forgotten. I sat in the front seat, massaging my temples. My eyes were closed but my brain was a whirl.

Vampire, wolf, human; that's what Jacob said. Could this be it? Could this be the answer? The why and the how?

Mother wolf who love not her child, but Renee's not a wolf. Maybe she was? I don't know what to believe anymore. The world's gone crazy.

It couldn't be true, Renee isn't a wolf. I would've _heard_ if she was. She couldn't be a wolf. It was impossible. Not probable. But what is? Probable, I mean. Everything has been improbable lately. The world is upside down and inside out.

But what if it was true? What if it _is_? Well if it were true I'd just have one more reason to hate Renee. It would be her fault I was like this; her fault for not loving me. But then again, if I wasn't able to do what I was then Edward would have me eaten by now. Then again, if Renee loved me and all of my freakishness I wouldn't be freakish. I wouldn't be here.

My head hurt.

I sighed and stuck the key in the ignition, starting the journey back home. Maybe I should talk to the Cullens. Yeah, that would be a good idea.

I was just in the process of rolling down the window when I heard a scream. A terrified, shrill, helpless, _very close down that nearby alley_ kind of scream. I stopped the car, the gas still on and keys in the ignition as I rushed towards the sound. What was that? It had better not be what I thought it was.

Then I heard laughter. Deep laughter; the kind of laughter that wasn't amused but musing. The thinking laugh, thinking about how best to hurt, how best to please the darkness inside that laugh.

I ran faster.

I was around the corner, and down the alley faster than humanly possible. And this nonhuman thing was going to get me killed because as I barreled forward I had no fear in my heart for myself. But a great load of terror for the girl I heard screaming. And it was a girl, which I confirmed as I came upon the gruesome scene.

A group of about four men, standing in a disjointed circle around a young girl, in her late teens I think. And when I got closer I recognized the face.

It was _Tanya._

She was sobbing, crying, her flannel shirt was torn at the sleeve and hem, her hands scraped and bloody. A large guy was leaning over her, a manic glint in his coal black eyes. He leered at her.

"Girls like you belong on your knees." His buddies chuckled as he brought his hand to his jeans' zipper, the other hand pushing her down towards the filthy ground.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you are doing?" I snarled. The man and his accomplices turned to me, the surprise leaving their eyes as they saw what appeared to be a weak little girl.

"Oh, you want to join too?" He smiled at me, this completely evil smile. And his eyes met mine. Soulless eyes, that's what he had.

"Get away! Run, Bella!" Tanya choked at me. I shook my head and stared down the man. He smiled again.

"Get her, bring her here. Let's see if blondes really are more fun." He tugged Tanya's hair sharply and she sobbed again, her terrified gaze meeting my own. The three guys approached me, similar smiles to the head bastard's on their disgusting faces. I watched placidly as they approached. The rage building within me.

And when the fury hit a high point they came within my reach.

"Sweetie, you better-" The guy never got to finish his sentence. Because my hand was around his neck.

I squeezed for all I was worth, watching as he turned an unhealthy red. I gleefully eyed his pals, letting him go. He fell to the ground, choking and grasping for air, then crawling away.

"You'll pay for that whore!" The middle one said, obviously trying to scare me. He grabbed my arm. Hard.

Big. _Fucking_. Mistake.

I pulled my free arm back and punched him at supernatural speed. His head snapped back so hard I wouldn't be surprised if his neck was broken. He went down like a pile of bricks. I turned to the last one as he started backing away.

"You- you're crazy-" His eyes were wild. I smiled, letting him see my unnaturally sharp canines.

"I'm a fucking psycho, actually." Then I ran at him, a blur not followed by mundane eyes, and kneed him in the jewels. He screamed like a girl and I laughed. I laughed and laughed and laughed as I slammed his head into the brick wall on my right. Then I turned to the last guy.

He was holding Tanya and backing down the alley. But there was nowhere to go; it was a dead end.

"Stop! I'll slice her throat!" He waved a knife at me. Tanya was too shocked to do much but stare, open- mouthed. I giggled at the demon, a knife? Like that would stop me.

He tried to growl threateningly; his grip tightened on Tanya. She yelped in pain.

I felt myself crouch on all fours, felt my lips pull back in a snarl as I growled at him, slowly advancing. I watched him gulp.

His eyes met mine and they were full of fear, terror, the knowledge that he was about to die. And I _liked_ it.

"Take her! Just- leave me alone!" He pushed her away from him and Tanya backed into the wall, not advancing or retreating. I could see she wasn't sure which was scarier, me or the devil against the wall.

"Get behind me Tanya, I won't hurt you." She nodded, ashen faced, and scurried behind me.

"_You_, however." The man whimpered and let out a pathetic cry as I jumped. He swiped at me with his knife but I hit it away. I held him down, digging my nails into his flesh and squeezing hard. He screamed, loud and shrill. His thoughts were jumbled, a mess of wonder and fear. But I could make out behind that no regret. And his intentions to rape and kill Tanya were still there in that filthy cavern, along with memories of other girls who weren't so lucky. Whose screams weren't heard. Of more to come. This monster would die. I would kill him.

Then I smelled it.

_Blood._

In a flash my teeth were at his neck, ready to rip and tear as painfully as possible. He deserved this, and he would see what it was like to lose something sacred. Not innocence, but blood. Not purity but his own filthy, worthless life.

"Stop!" A hand was on my shoulder, pulling me away. I violently grabbed at the filth's head, and then threw it away from me, effectively knocking him out when it crashed into the ground. I turned, furious, on the thing keeping me from ending the worthless shit's tyranny.

And I came face to face with the bookstore guy.

"Stop, calm down. I vill call the police. They vill take him. Go to your friend, she is scared, no? Take her, go. I vill clean this up." He sneered at the leech on the floor and looked me in the eye.

His cool gray eyes weren't misty anymore. They were a hard, cold steel. Sharper than the knife lying near the leech's prone body.

I nodded curtly and took Tanya by the hand. I dragged her up the alley and away, towards my truck. The smell of blood followed me all the way back.

_Just a taste. Just one tiny, little taste-_

**No! I will not have the blood of a monster flowing through my veins. **

_But… You're already a monster._

"Bella?" Tanya's voice was weak, almost childlike in its frailty.

"Yeah?"

"I don't know what just happened, or if I just made up, or if this is some big joke and I'm a mental patient. But… if this is real, then thank you." And finally, I let myself smile.

"Don't thank me just yet, it's about to get weirder. Tahn, I think it's time you met my good friends the Cullens."

~C~

"_ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?"_ Edward roared at me. I crossed my arms and met his furious glare with one of my own. My defensive stance did nothing to calm the fiery eyes.

"Edward!" Esme admonished. The Cullens were standing around in a loose circle in the living room. I'd driven straight to them, and brought Tanya inside with me. She was curled up into the corner of the couch, watching Edward and I as we faced off.

"No, Esme. I will not calm down! She could've gotten herself killed!" Edward growled but his eyes never left mine. I'd told them about my rescue mission, although I left out the part about the bookstore guy. He just… I didn't want to say anything. And Tanya had agreed with me in the car to not mention him when I told her we would go to the Cullens. So I recalled the thrilling tale and was met with mixed emotions. Esme and Carlisle were worried but proud; Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rose were kind of leaning towards the approval slash that's freaking awesome angle and Edward…well, he wasn't taking it too well.

"What were you thinking? Are you suicidal? Stupid? A sick thrill seeker? All of the above?" See?

"Now, that's going just a _tad_ bit too far. What was I supposed to do, huh? Stand there and let them hurt her? In case you've forgotten, I'm not exactly a helpless little girl." His eyes narrowed.

"In case you've forgotten, you're not exactly invincible either!" His nostrils flared and his face contorted. Obviously, my scent was bothering him. The sun was still up and I still looked like a prime rib to Edward. _Probably_ not a good time to get him all pissed off.

"Look," I sighed, "it was instinctual reaction, okay? I hear screaming, I see filthy little bastards preying on the innocent, I go for the kill. Alright? I wasn't exactly thinking, I'll admit. But I wasn't in any danger." Edward opened his mouth, ready to rally his offense again.

"Edward, shut up." Rosalie said. I turned, surprised.

"She did what any good person would have done. Actually, she did better. If it was me, those guys would be ripped to shreds and sitting at the bottom of some gutter right now. I hate rapists; sincerely. I was almost a victim once, remember?" Emmett growled long and low, wrapping Rosalie in his arms protectively.

"Don't." He ground out, a wounded look in his eye. Rosalie kissed his cheek reassuringly.

"But this poor girl was nearly killed and worse. She had no defense. I say she's lucky Bella showed up. So, Edward, shut up. She was in no danger." He hissed at her before turning on his heel and stomping out. I heard the front door open and slam behind him.

"Give him time," Alice said, "he'll get over it."

"He better," I mumbled. I turned to Tanya, who was still in a slight state of shock.

"Let's get you something to eat. You look kind of pale." She smiled feebly and stood. We walked out of the room, Rosalie close beside us.

"Why don't you take a seat. I'll get you some tea and food." She nodded and sat, her arms hugging her torso as she shivered. Rosalie went out and came back with a blanket for her as I started the kettle. The water boiled. We were silent.

"What_ was_ that, Bella? With the… you just moved so fast and you were growling and your teeth! You looked like an animal." Her whispered words were a grim shock to my memory. I'd felt like an animal. A beast.

A monster.

"That's because I am. Part animal, I mean. I'm part wolf, part human, and part vampire. They call me a witch." Tanya stared at me. Then she started laughing.

"Oh that's funny. Yeah and I'm a fairy princess." Her chuckles seemed less mirthful as she took in mine and Rose's serious faces.

"Wait. You're serious? You seriously think you're a _witch_?" Her eyes went comically wide.

"I don't _think_. I _know._" Tanya scoffed and turned on Rose.

"What? And let me guess, you believe her?" Rose smiled.

"I kind of have to. I'm part vampire part human. You're the weird one here." She smirked at me. Tanya wasn't so nonchalant.

"Okay, prove it." I rolled my eyes. Hadn't she gotten enough proof already? The water finished boiling so I poured her a cup and placed in the teabag. Rose had made a sandwich and tossed it to me, on the plate. Frisbee style. I caught the zooming thing with ease and placed it in front of an astonished Tanya.

"Wha- she just…and you?" She pointed from the plate to Rose to me. I smiled gently.

"Yeah." She huffed again, but with less conviction.

"Maybe you're just a ninja." I giggled. Yeah, I'm a ninja. Right. That was almost as unbelievable as the whole witch thing.

"Here, give me your hand. Think of anything." She placed her hand in mine.

_This is crazy. Now what? She's a mind reader too? I'll bet she'll be telling me next that her brother is Tom Cruise or something ridiculous._

I snorted.

"Why would I say my brother's Tom Cruise? Why not Will Ferrell?" Tanya gaped at me.

_Coincidence!_ Her mind screamed.

"Not a coincidence." I countered.

_She can't read my mind. Here I'll prove it. Only I know that Mr. Banner and Ms. Fruck have a sexlationship. And only I know that Angela has a HUGE crush on Ben._

"Wrong, and wrong again my dear." I teased.

"Everybody knows about the whole Fruck-Banner thing. And it's COMPLETELY obvious that Angela has a crush on Ben Cheney. Although the fact that I can read her mind kind of helped me out a bit in finding that out." Tanya was speechless.

_It's true…_

"Yup, now eat your sandwich. And drink that tea before it gets too cold." I let go of her hand and watched with amusement as she timidly sipped her drink. Apparently the shock of my mind reading, witch mumbo jumbo had pulled her from the assault shock. She no longer shivered or hugged herself. She just sat there and eyed me like _Tanya_ does. And I smiled at the twinkle in her eye, because I knew she was back to the cheeky chick I'd grown to love.

"Okay, so let's say this is true. And that I'm not crazy. What now? Are you guys going to kill me because I know this big secret?" she set down her cup.

"Nah, you'll just be sworn in to our club of freaks." She tapped her chin musingly at Rose's words.

"It's a deal." She grinned at me and held out her hand. I shook.

_Now tell me about this witch business._

~C~

Tanya was sleeping in the guest room after calling her mom and saying she was staying over at my house. We'd been sitting in the kitchen, all three of us, as Tanya questioned us. She accepted each answer with the enthusiasm of a little kid. Obviously, she wasn't appalled by it, if her "that's so freaking _cool_," statements were anything to go by. Finally satisfied by mine and Rose's answers, she'd said she was feeling tired. So she called her mom and we set her into bed just as the moon started to rise. And now it was just me and Rose, sitting outside (because it was a full moon and I just couldn't resist) with all the other Cullens' whereabouts unknown.

"You know, I can see why you find it so beautiful." I nodded at Rose's statement, my eyes glued to the moon. It was more than beautiful. It was everything. Its warmth and power was flowing into me, softening me, strengthening me with each breath. It took all I had to just sit and stare instead of jumping out of my chair and howling.

"Yeah. Hey, I was meaning to ask you, what was with that whole comment about you almost being a rape victim?" Rose sighed.

"It's the truth. I was almost raped by a vampire in Volterra, not long after my memory loss took place." A distant hiss came from the house.

"I'll tell you all about it one day. When Emmett's not within hearing distance." I nodded absently, still transfixed by the moon.

"Edward isn't back yet." Rose mused. I grunted in affirmation, still a bit ticked about his behavior earlier.

"I know he can be an insufferable prick sometimes," I grinned, "but he cares about you and worries. That's the only reason he went off the deep end when you told him about going up against those creeps. Emmett would react the same way if I'd told him that I attacked four guys bigger than me, one who was armed with a knife." Her logic made sense, but I still didn't want to defend him.

"Maybe you should go find him. _Make_ him apologize." I actually liked the idea of that. Confrontation, exactly what I needed right now. What can I say? The moon made me reckless.

"Yeah I think I'll do that." I thanked Rose and took off into the woods as she wandered back inside.

Now how do I find Edward? What would a wolf do?

I started sniffing around, figuring if vampires could do it and if wolves could do it, then I could too. And surprise, surprise, I picked up Edward's scent almost immediately. I was on his trail, going deeper into the woods. Travelling in the high school's direction, actually.

After about fifteen minutes of mouthwatering recon (what can I say? He smelled really, really good), I stumbled upon a particularly strong waft of him. And then I stumbled into a meadow.

_The _meadow.

The one where Edward had chased me that first day, where I almost died. Where all of this started.

And in the middle of it sat Edward, hunched over and moodily tearing the grass.

"What do you want?" He grumbled.

"I want you to apologize." He snorted.

"Okay. I'm sorry for worrying about you and freaking out because you nearly died." He stood abruptly and turned to face me.

"Aw, so sincere." I simpered. He growled, not appreciating my humor.

"Seriously though, grumpy pants, what's your problem?" He started walking towards me.

"My problem," step, "is that you have no concern for your safety." Step.

"My problem is that you attract danger like flame attracts moths." Step.

"My problem," he hissed, right in my face now, "is that _you_ have no problem with either of these facts."

"I can take care of myself." I bit back, annoyed now.

"I'm not just some damsel in distress, and you're not my Prince Charming, come to rescue me on your big white horse! I. Don't. Need. Your. _Protection._" His growl built to a roar.

"Yes you do!" his eyes were wild, turbulent. I felt my fury rise, reacting to his. Wave building on wave, pulled forth by his own anger.

"Why do you care?" He pulled on his hair, and chuckled darkly before grabbing my shoulders and looking me in the eye. Our noses nearly touched he was so close.

_BECAUSE, I care about you. Or are you so blind that you can't see that?_

He let go and stomped away again. I followed.

"No mister, you are not running away from me again. What do you mean, you _care_ about me?" my heart was beating erratically. My thoughts were jumbled and my voice wavered. But I followed anyway, watching as his shoulders tensed, as his fists clenched before he turned to me again.

"Do you need me to spell it out for you?" he was still furious.

"Yes." I said petulantly.

And then he was right in front of me again. But his eyes were calmer. And his hands were framing my face.

_I care about you. I want you. I need you. And if you were ever hurt, I would be destroyed._

His eyes churned, but without anger. My heart was nearly beating its way out of my chest. He cared about me, me! I could feel it, the want and the need. And all the things I'd been battling with since the moment I'd laid eyes on him. He was so beautiful and he wanted me. Plain old Bella Swan. He needed me. _Needed_ me. Needed _me._ The words rolled around my head, danced around my heart, made me flush and blush and go all sorts of crazy because he was sending me into hormonal overdrive. And it was a full moon. And I felt the same way. Completely.

"I care about you too." I whispered. His eyes flamed again, like my words were a match. He was closer than ever, his breath warm and sweet on my lips.

"Good."

And then he kissed me.

His mouth was soft, hot against my own. He took my bottom lip between his and nipped it. His hands fell from my face, his arms wrapped around my waist. I was in a haze as I dug my fingers into his soft hair. I was so close. But I needed to be closer.

_Closer, closer, closer._

_You're so beautiful. Do you have any idea what you do to me? _

His thoughts were soft and sweet. I licked at his lip, he moaned and his mouth opened. I took my chance and tasted him. Edward. He was sweet and strong and perfect. I could kiss him forever. His arms tightened around me. Our kiss was frantic, passionate. My body was on fire and it still wasn't enough.

_More, more._

His thoughts were jumbled, fractured with need and want and a cacophony of _mine, mine, mine._ Possession and satisfaction rolled with lust and joy as his lips and tongue and breath mingled with mine. He purred like a cat when I tugged on his hair. It made me giggle.

And then we were slowing down. Our lips just softly pecking, touching. His grip not as tight but still as welcomed and wanting. I slowly pulled away and grinned at him, like a fool. His smile was similar.

_You should see your eyes. They're swirling, all silver and chocolate. I can see the moon in your eyes._

I melted into him further and rested my head on his chest. Everything was perfect and I was so freaking happy I was nearly over the moon. Figuratively, of course. Nothing could have ruined this moment.

Until something did.

Edward's arms tightened and he growled again just as I heard laughter. Deep and familiar.

"How cute." I groaned. I'd know that annoying voice anywhere.

"Jacob." I grumbled turning in Edward's arms. The pup stood at the edge of the clearing, taking in our embrace with shifty eyes. Edward snarled as Jacob's eyes traveled down my body.

_Disgusting piece of trash. His thoughts….mine, he can't touch. Won't have. Shouldn't even think about it._

Edward was listening to Jacob's thoughts. And I was listening to Edward's. But I couldn't hear Jacob's thoughts. Once again I was only hearing Edward and not the thoughts around him. I frowned.

"Clean your mind, dog." Edward spat. Jacob just chuckled again.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, getting my mind off the oddness. His smile faded.

"We made a deal, remember?" I groaned. Oh yeah.

"The elders are waiting." He smiled, all teeth and no friendliness.

"Well then, Mutt. Lead the way." He winked at me. Edward snarled as I stepped forward. I sighed.

This was going to be a long night.

* * *

Awesome, yes? Amazing, yes? Worth the wait?

Maybe...

I do love me some Edsnarl. Or Growlward. Whatever floats your boat.

You'll just have to tell me yourself. ;)


End file.
